Laboratory Of The Dominus Mutator Bundle
Part of Tribes and Patreon June 2026 release.
This set is part of the Laboratory of the Dominus Mutator Bundle.
This set is a bundle that contains:
- Laboratory of the Dominus Mutator Tiles - Modular OpenLOCK Structure
- Modular Wood Scaffolding
- Gargantuan Laboratory Mutation Tanks
- Laboratory Modular Pipes, Tanks, Objects and Props
All the models are test printed in resin and presupported when needed.
- Laboratory of the Dominus Mutator Tiles - Modular OpenLOCK Structure. This is a set of dungeon/interior tiles with all the usual options to make it more easily playable at the table. These walls have a very specific design: their decorations are fully covered in alchemical symbols with the intent of making them more interesting for ritual rooms, temple crypts, wizard dungeons, and so on. Plus, this set has an extra layer of customization. Most walls have magnet slots meant to be combined with the bolts and pipes from this same release. By doing so, you can make crazy options for the whole set: you can have pipes crossing all over the walls, exhaustion vents, lights, mechanical wheels that open and close passages, and so on (more on them below).
The magnet slots will show through if not used - of course - but, given the bricks and arches structure of the set, I don't think they ruin the look. If you want to cover them, however, I have designed two small bolts (one metal, one stone) meant to be used as placeholders when you don't want vents, pipes, or lights coming out of the walls. And if you don't care about any of that, you can always print the NoMagnet version of the walls: those are basically the regular walls without this extra option. Choose your poison :)
I love how these turned out: I think they are a great addition for any collection to stage arcane rooms in a dungeon, lab, mansion cellar and so on. The extra detail of the symbols will be a source of wonder at the table, and I can picture them painted with bright colors on a few tiles to show them as "active" (whatever that means in your encounter design): and if the characters manage to stop the ritual, block the flow of the pipes, or dispel the magic on them, you can remove those "active" painted tiles and place regular ones in their place to show exactly what is happening at the table! Maybe they are bright blue with some kind of arcane energy passing through them to ultimately power the alchemical tanks, or maybe they glow with the purple of the mutagens being pumped in a gargantuan tank where a mutated monster is gestating, or maybe they burn deep red, and it is sacrificial blood that is trapped in them. Options are endless!
Finally, a few of the walls are "open". These are just an extra variant of which I liked the look. I think I will print a few of them and use them to show arcane barrier or windows: I enjoy the idea of tall sheets of glass or crackling energy that preserves the underwater laboratory room from the pressure of the ocean on the other side. They could also be the transparent barrier against the constant blizzard on a mountain peak - a great place where to throw enemies and make the fight more interesting - or, again, they could be the only separation from darkness, high above a pitch black chasm leading to the World Below...
- Modular Wood Scaffolding. Magnetized or reinforced with toothpick slots, completely modular and with a kitbash option to expand it and make your own platforms and bases - or ruined versions. While designing this set I pictured scaffolding built to make it possible for arcane scientists to reach the top of the tanks in which their weird experiments are brewing. Not only this makes the location more varied by introducing ramshackle wood, but it also gives great opportunity for combat: I imagine players pushing enemies down a height, rolling a tank filled with alchemist fire to make a vertical bomb, or hacking at the base of these structures to bring these terrible experiments down with the arcanists who worked on them. Only to fight the mutated monsters that come out of the tanks, of course, once they are crashed on the ground and open.
This set is extremely versatile. You can use it for scaffolding attached to a castle wall undergoing renovations, to a town's temple that was recently attacked and burned - or any building, really. You can use it in mines, where its purpose is to reach higher ore veins in a large room, or in a village as a raised stage made of cheap wood. Whether it is in ruins, alleys, ports or squares, you can use it wherever something is under repair. I find that videogames often place structures such as these in dungeons to make the environment more interesting and now, well, we can too! Plus, by combining it with other sets you can make it more culture or purpose specific by furnishing it with other objects and props. It is also compatible with the system used for the Hawkstone Pass (the Bandit Camp) scaffolding.
- Gargantuan Laboratory Mutation Tanks. These are the enormous tanks where the Dominus Mutator is developing his masterpieces. The thick glass shows a whirlwind of mutagens and, at times, the clouded shape of something gargantuan can be glimpsed inside. These are the centerpiece of this set: monstrous contraptions that can be built in three ways (shown in the renders above) and are designed to host a miniature in them - Medium, Large or Huge depending on the miniature features. Thanks to the mechanism in the back the "lids" of these tanks can be opened, creating a great option for a dramatic monster reveal mid fight! What if the characters adventured deep in the sewers to reach the secret chamber of the Dominus Mutator and his retinue of insane scholars just to find them well at work on their creations. After a gruesome fight if they succeed in blocking the mutagens from reaching the tanks, the lead scientist frees his imperfect children before it is ready, in a final act of defiance. The two tanks open: their horrors, unleashed. And you can do so at the table in that very moment! The mini would have been hidden in plain sight all along: I think that will make for a very memorable encounter at the table.
At the bottom they have four slots designed to host the bolts and pipes described below. With them, you can basically combine the smaller tanks with these larger ones, or you can expand their base. The small circles of metal around the rest of their structure is also designed to host magnets (just glue them in place) for the same purpose. In the main room render the middle tank shows a possible setup to that effect, with five lights coming out of the upper dome. You can put vents there (where characters may want to drop potions - or bombs!), or wheels that can be turned during combat for an extra layer of encounter design. Once again, options are endless :)
(Also, this is perfect in combination with last month's monstrous patches: what if inside these tanks a fleshy horror is brewing?)
- Laboratory Modular Pipes, Tanks, Objects and Props. With this set you can build sprawling and complex structures of alchemical/arcane contraptions. This set itself is made of three main parts: the Tanks, the Bolts and the Pipes. The Tanks are large and come in different shapes, with bases that can be connected to the pipes and bolts as well as variants that are either pre-joined and reinforced with metal or have the metal structure separated from the glass. I like this option in particular because it makes it possible to print the glass in transparent resin and - for example - pour stained epoxy resin in it as well as particles, miniatures, and other hobby materials (or LEDs!) to achieve more immersive and cool effects. If you don't plan to do that extra work, you can always print them in regular resin, and they'll benefit from being hollowed. These tanks can also be arrayed to achieve the weird vertical look that's part of the renders. You can basically stack as many as you want, and with the bases that fixes the height you'll find that they follow the array of vertical OpenLOCK tiles perfectly.
The pipes can be combined with the tanks' bases to make structures that twist vertically and horizontally. They also have junctions where they connect to the ground (or a wall!) that also serve the purpose of supporting them and that makes it possible for these tubes to spread in different directions (there are T and X sections, and so on.) Not every pattern of pipes will be achievable with the fixed measures given in the set, but to make more shapes possible I have added two small sections that will get channels to stretch the extra space needed to connect them (all is in the instructions). These pipes come with two styles: fully metallic or with a glass body. In the second case I picture them painted with some glowing effect, or printed with transparent resin and - once again - filled with epoxy resin and the like. The metal trim is thick enough to be easily painted in metal if you decide to go that way. Just an extra option :)
Finally, the bolts. These small bits are designed to connect to any end point where they are needed to cover a magnet or desired for a specific effect. There are lights, vents, wheels, other smaller tanks, even a command panel! What's its purpose? I have no idea, but I can picture a character pressing frantically on this arcane panel and creating random wild effects in the laboratory. If they accidentally cause explosion that harm other characters, all the best! These are also compatible with the walls coming in this set - as well as the pipes - which you can basically use to make wall-attached walkways where rogues stealth, vents where they can parkour, etc...
This set opens an enormous amount of options for encounter design: whether you want to make entire rooms with a combination of these tools, or just a single tank terrain with complex pipes, vents and wheels, there will be enough points of interaction for characters to make encounters more than just a last man standing challenge. Wheels can be turned to close passages, pipes can be broken, tanks can be opened, mutagens can burst out of their channels and command panels can be activated. I believe most laboratory encounters will become much more interesting once you put a wheel that can block and open the flow of pipes, with all the relative consequences! Playing videogame like puzzles with these should be nice!
Everything has magnet holes - which is always an option - and comes with an hollowed version for easier resin printing.
Objs&Props. This is a smaller set, containing a few shelves, tables and a stool, with furnished versions, of course. Whether they are filled with books, potions or magical tools, they are great for any laboratory, library, mansion, church, arcane related room, shop, etc...! I love how the tables can be combined in many different ways: by placing the 45 degree angle or the curve as the "person facing" side you can make different shapes. With four you can make a square table with an empty circle in the middle for plinths, statues, tanks, braziers, etc... By placing two with the 45 degree side against each other you can make a butterfly shaped table, by placing two straight sides together you have a horseshoe shape, and so on. Plus, there is a wide array of props if you are into dioramas or extreme details and customization, with a few of them on trays to make them easier to print. There are potions, scalpels, scissors, syringes and all that crazy scientists may want :)
This is a location that has a sci-fi direction, of course, but I find that a bit of tech in a fantasy ttropg game can always be excused with magic, and can add flavor by contrast. It is kind of a trope to find the ruins of an ancient and more developed empire deep under glaciers or buried in the sands, its knowledge lost - until now. Or maybe a comet was seen in the sky crashing in the forest, but when the villagers got to the impact zone they didn't find rock, but a weird looking upside down palace instead. Inside, metal and glass contraptions exquisitely made and impossible to understand: there are people in the sky, they thought. When the first screams were heard from the deepest rooms, they fled. Something hungry was freed by the crash.
