Quote from: Caesar SlaadSome of you are being rather more general than I expected.

I often hear things like players having absolute authority over PC actions (this is one I used to have, but I've toyed with some mechanics that close this off a little bit in an effort to make PC behavior more believable) and not killing PCs without player consent.

We're being general because we have to be. Players and GMs are entitled to nothing specific, only to the general thing of, "we will ask you what you find fun, interesting and fulfilling, and try to work it in with what everyone else likes, too."

What exactly that'll be will be very different for different gamers and groups, even for the same gamer during different sessions.

For example, in one campaign I as GM brought it out that a particular PC was the bastard daughter of the main villain of the campaign, and that this main villain had killed another PC's mother - he had her dead in his character background. For many players, this would be fucking with their character background, and completely unacceptable. But these particular two players had asked for it. I'd read their PC backgrounds and said, "wow, that stuff is harsh, I would never inflict such a background on a PC." The players responded, "we like it. Bring stuff like that up in the game. Surprise us, fuck with us - just make it interesting." Most players feel entitled to complete control of their character's background; these two gave some of that authority to the GM, on the condition that the GM make it interesting.

There are no universal rules here. Just, "we will ask you what you find fun, interesting and fulfilling, and try to work it in with what everyone else likes, too." Players are entitled to neither more nor less than this.