Narration is the act of describing events in the game world of a role-playing game. In most role-playing games, all players participate in narration at different times (the player who is currently doing narration is the narrator). Narration generally does not include the act of players asking permission to take action or stating an intention to take action.
The ability of players to narrate events is partly determined by who has authorial privilege. In most traditional games, the GM has authorial privilege, but players narrate the actions of their characters. Sometimes, a GM may also narrate the player characters' actions (e.g. to describe the effect determined by a resolution mechanic). In extreme cases, narration by players may be limited to only the words that they say in character. Alternatively, narration may be shared between players by the rules of the game.