Re: PBM die rolls...slightly missing the point

From: bruno@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu (Bruno Wolff III)

Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 00:00:00 +0000

From article <01bd04c0$229899a0$bafdfbce@luthardt>, by "Bob Luthardt" <luthardt@clark.net>:
] I think some people are missing the point:
] Generating a random number isn't the issue - generating a _verifiable_
] random number so that it can be confirmed by people reading email.
] Otherwise, why use Modulo at all?
]
] If all you need is a random number, roll a die.
]

It is easy to generate verifiable random numbers. If player A needs a D6
roll, he can send a message to player B including an encrypted D6 roll
(which will be decrypted after the game is over so that it can be verified).
Player B saves this message for verification and sends back a D6 roll.
Player A adds the two rolls and subtracts 6 if the total is 7 or more.
The resulting number is the roll to be used. If either player really supplies
a uniformly distributed D6 roll, then the resulting roll will be a uniformly
distributed D6 roll. A number of rolls can be generated in a batch this
way as long as how they are being used is declared before player B sends
back his rolls.

P.S. A point brought up in rec.games.design where a similar discussion is
going on, is that the encrypted die roll must have some random information
tacked on to it, so that you won't get the same message twice for the
same roll.

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