Root Cause

The disaster hasn't happened yet.

You're an operator, a safety officer, a maintenance tech. You can see what's coming. You have the forms, the contacts, the knowledge. You also have a production quota, a supervisor who doesn't want to hear it, and a facility that's been running this way for years without incident.

Root Cause is a solo or GMless TTRPG about the hours before an industrial accident — and whether you can stop it. The game ends when the disaster is averted or when the clock runs out. You might still fail. But that's your failure, not the game's.

The tone is procedural realism. The people who cause industrial disasters are almost never incompetent or evil. They are people making reasonable decisions based on incomplete information inside systems optimized for the wrong things. This game is built around that truth. No villain. No monster. Just a facility, a clock, and the gap between what your organization says it values and what it actually rewards.

How it plays:

Two tracks run simultaneously. The Disaster Clock advances toward incident. The Response Track advances toward prevention. Many actions that help prevention also advance the clock — the situation keeps developing while you respond to it. Production pressure makes everything harder. Management responses range from unhelpful to catastrophically unhelpful.

Before play, you roll to determine the facility type, its condition, the known hazard, and a hidden hazard sealed in an envelope. You won't know what's in the envelope until the clock runs out.

What's in the download:

- Full rules for solo and group play (2–5 players)

- 6 playable archetypes (Operator, Safety Officer, Maintenance Technician, Shift Supervisor, Contractor, Environmental Specialist)

- Oracle tables for facility setup, production pressure, hazard types, management responses, and incident resolution

- Intervention actions with full mechanics

- After-action and investigation resolution sequences

- 30-minute solo quick-start guide

System-agnostic. Runs standalone with the included oracle system. No other rulebook required.

Inspired by the public investigative reports of industrial safety boards. That work is worth reading. This game is worth playing in that spirit.

Players: Solo or 2–5 (GMless)

Time: 1–2 hours

Materials: This PDF, two standard dice, something to track two number tracks