Handout (role play)

In pen & paper role-playing games, a handout is documents or information that complement the game.

If a role-playing game is usually characterized by the fact that an adventure is almost exclusively experienced and illustrated by narration, handouts are objects of illustration that complement the game and also deepen it. They have a low level of abstraction and make it possible to give players a “piece of the game world” that should appear as authentic as possible.

Handouts are mostly more or less complicated printouts that contain game-relevant information, e.g. B. letters, profiles, photos or the like. But also prints of details of the game world, characters in special places or the like.

The preparation of the content can be a standard text, but it can also be refined with different fonts, photos, burned corners or additional markings.

In addition to the conventional printouts, however, almost anything can serve as a 'handout'. Pottery shards, books, replicas of artifacts or the like can convey game-relevant content or serve to illustrate the game world.