I realize that making actual die rolls for PBM games is highly irregular and probably even unheard of in the diehard PBM circles, but that is exactly what my opponents and I did every time we played Micros.

I did an extensive amount of face-to-face gaming with a young gamer and we eventually learned to respect and treat each other as honest players. When we decided to PBM with Micros after he had to move away we did not even think twice about finding alternate methods to produce random numbers for die rolls. We simply decided to do our own die rolls and report them correctly to each other. He trusted me to correctly record my die rolls and I trusted him to do the same. We played several PBM games this way with no problem. Just recently I played some Micros with other gamers who I've so far only met through correspondence. Our acquaintance usually started through one or the other of us answering a classified "opponents wanted" ad in a gaming periodical. Even these other strangers, who I've never met or played face-to-face yet, have agreed with me that we would do our own die rolls and report on their results in our orders.

My philosophy for doing it this way, and most of these other guys agree with me here, is that if two gamers are going to go to the trouble and time necessary to play a game by mail, they should treat each other as serious and mature proponents of their hobby and expect their fellow gamer to be as honest as they try to be. A dishonest player, either in face-to -face or especially PBM gaming, will only hurt a game and alienate his opponent. Dishonesty, just for the sake of trying to win a game, is definitely not worth it. In all the Micros I've PBMed I've never had any suspicions about dishonest die rolls from my opponents and they have never expressed any reservations about this top me either I admit that we have some occassional diffrences with rules interpretations, but we've never come to blows over suspected dishonest die rolls.

But for those gamers who insist on a more bulletproof system of random number generation, I hereby present 3 method introduced to me by an old grognard who has been PBMing for many years. No, that old stock market method that gamers are already aware of but instead a system that uses the popular scratch-andreveal state lottery tickets. Allow me to explain.

Practically every state that runs a state lottery (and most of them do) offers a variety of smart, so-called 'instant' cards that are available at gas stations, minimarts, grocery stores, etc. These cards am also called scratch-and-reveal dckets because the ticket buyer must scratch a thin plastic film off the card to reveal the numbers hidden underneath and find out if he won anything or not. There are also something else hidden under the scratch film that most lottery players aren't aware off and this the ticket verification number which used to verify the authenticity of winning cards.

If this verification number that can be used for generating random numbers in PBM gaming, because it is a series of random digits running from zero to nine in no noticeable sequence or pattern. If you know of a friend, neighbor relative or aquaintance who plays the lottery, try to collect some used scratch-and-reveal tickets from them to examine yourself. The number is eight to ten digits long and usually near the bottom edge of the scratch-off area.

Scratch off the material from at least two tickets and prove to yourself that they really are random numbers and these serial numbers printed on them as well as the verification numbers and these serial numbers are definitely in sequence as they come off the ticket roll, thus making them unfit for use as random numbers, so don't get the two numbers confused.

How to Use the Tickets

So how do we use these cards to generate random numbers? Gather a small handful of cards to use, making sure that the verification numbers have not, and I repeat, have not been scratched off. If the numbers have been revealed, then they are worthless for PBM gaming. When you send your next turn in whatever game it may be PBMing at the time, list all your individual battles in order in which you wish to perform them, just as in face-to-face.

For example; unit A in hex aa h attacking unit B in hex bb for "battle #1", unit P in hex zz is attacking unit R in hex W for "battle #2" and etcs right down the line listing all the battles in order. Your combat orders will include a ticket with an unrevealed verification number and tell your opponent that forr resolving battle #1, scratch off the first number from the right on the card, then for battle 2, scratch off the next number on the right and so on, going from right to left (or left to right, if you prefer) with each number that is revealed in succession acting as the "die roll" for each of the pre-designated battles. Whatever number is revealed for that batrle is then cross referenced on the game CRT just as if it were a regular die roll and the appropriate result is applied to that battle. It's that simple.

These tickets are rather versatile because they can be used for games that require either one or two six-sided dice, and one or two ten-sided dice (ie percentile).

When one six-sided die is being used, only the digits 1 through 6 are used. The 0, 7, 8 and 9 are ignored if revealed and the next number after them is then used. On ten-sided dice, all numbers are used.

Depending on how many die rolls you have to make in a turn you may want to include to or more tickets with your combat orders so that you don't run out of "die rolls". If you have them do that then simply designate which ticket you want to be used first second, third, etc. After your opponent has revealed all the numbers and made the appropriate changes on game, he then sends the used back to you with his next order so you can verify the "rolls" and make the necessary changes on your game as well. You do the same and the game continues.

The one disadvantage to this system is that, if you can't find a source of used tickets, you'll have to actally buy them to use for a game. The tickets usually don't cost more than a dollar each, so this is just a digit additional expense in addition to postage and envelopes. Whether you have to pay for them or not, it is a painless and foolproof method for generating random numbers for PBM games and is an excellent alternative to the old stock market method.

Michael Friend is the creator/Editor of VINDICATOR: The Journal of Metagaming Games and Classic Science Fiction Wargames. PO Box 384, Manlius, NY 13104 Subscriptions $12.00.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
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