To me, the typical distribution of roles in a RPG means that the bulk of what players do is
declare actions for their PC, either expressly -
I do such-and-such - or implicitly
- What can we see? or
What's in the chest? which bring with them implicit declarations like
We look around? or
I look in the chest. And it is by way of the resolution of these declared actions that players exert authority over the shared fiction.
We can see this in
@hawkeyefan's Folk Hero example: that doesn't play out as a meta-stipulation
I decree that there are common folk willing to give me shelter. It plays out as an action declaration:
I approach these common folk and ask them to shelter me and my friends. The background ability says (or seems to say) that in such circumstances, the action declaration will typically succeed.
That's why, in these sorts of discussions, approaches to
framing and to
resolution are fundamental. I think it' self-evident why
resolution is fundamental; and framing is also fundamental because it plays such a big role in establishing the fictional context for declarations and resolutions of PC actions.