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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 8660970" data-attributes="member: 20564">The GM has not a single iota of power above and beyond that granted by the players.  And at any time if they are abusing that power, the players can withdraw it by leaving the game - perhaps en masse.  The idea that GMs have unlimited power is not just false, but it's commonly considered one of the sins of running.  In reality there is a strong upper limit on what they can do, constrained by the shared understanding of the rules, the implied or explicit social contract, and the trust given by the players.In response to "Can the GM tell players what their characters do, think, and feel?"This is the one place that is inviolate - the players are in control of their PCs in regards to their thoughts, intentions, feelings.  (Outside corner cases like being controlled by magic or psionic.)This isn't even really debatable, it's one of the cornerstones of RPGs.  I can not picture someone who has actually played RPGs not understanding this.It is the DM's job to be the window from character living in the world the player running them.  But it still isn't the DM's place to control the PCs, to tell them it's a gut feeling - that's for the player to decided how they want to portray it.  The DM could give it to them in mechanical terms like "your Insight check succeeds and the halfling is acting suspiciously" or in more narrative terms "ever time the halfling offers a price he doesn't meet your eyes" - both are within the purview of the GM.  But it is the player who decided how their character feels - do they have a "gut feel" about the halfling, or perhaps they are more calculating about it.</blockquote>

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