   Probability calculation
  I'm trying to calculate the amount of things that die from natural causes. At the moment, I've got this:For each thing, I do:if (Random number between 0 and 1) <= (Death probability)    (Number to kill off) += 1Which works fine and is exactly what I want, but I was wondering if there was a way to get the same kind of results with just a single calculation, e.g.:(Number to kill off) = (Random number) * (Death probability) * (Total number)The problem with the above is that it produces a lot lower numbers, and when there are a few things (between 1 and 100 say), you don't get any being killed off.   
  The sum of discrete random variables can be approximated by a gaussian distribution with the same mean and variance. Assuming each entity has the same probability of dying P with a total number T, then the mean would be P * T and the variance would be (1 - P) * P * T. Plug those values into your favorite gaussian random number generator.   ;  What you are asking about is called binomial distribution.A normal distribution is often a good approximation to the binomial distribution if you have enough events. If the probability of individual events is very small, a Poisson distribution is a better approximation.