Coming up with homebrew ideas can be hard without a strong inspiration source to launch yourself off of. Don’t worry, this blog post is not going to be a pitch for you to use some artificial tool. This post is actually a pitch for you to use a nice digital cardboard infused tool known as Scryfall. Scryfall is THE go to card search engine for the wonderful card game called Magic: The Gathering. Scryfall is also going to be your new best friend to generate memorable NPCs, items, worlds, artifacts, and other useful pieces to get your TTRPG homebrew worlds going from concept to immersive fiction!
Yeah I’m Scryyyy, Scryyyfallin (in the tune of Free Fallin by Tom Petty)
Today we are going to use Scryfall to come up with a skeleton for a homebrew session in your next game that includes a world, person, artifact, and BIG OL monster for your characters to fight. Let me now walk you through your new creative process.
Step 1: Go to Scryfall
Step 2: Select Random Card
Step 3: Rinse and repeat step 2 five times to get your full picture
Location, Location, Location
At the time of February 26, there are 82 name dropped planes in Magic the gathering that we can draw inspiration from. After getting my random card, which was “Salt Road Quartermasters”, I hover over the set symbol and see that scryfall has decided that our location will be in the plane of Tarkir! (You can also see the set selection at the bottom of the card page on Scryfall.)
Tarkir is a world filled to the brim with battles between five clans led by their own elder dragon leaders. Already out of the gate, I am filled with some great session zero questions to ask my players, or if this is a single contained “slip into the multiverse” episode, I have some questions for that too.
Questions for session zero: What clan does your character belong to? How does your character feel about the ongoing war with the other clans? Out of the 15+ named locations from this world, which one is your character’s hometown?
Questions for “slip into multiverse” episode session: How does your character feel about dragons? What are the qualities your character admires in an adventuring group? (see which of the clans come close to their ideals.) What’s your character’s least favorite type of terrain?
Your New NPC
Now that we have our plane, who is someone the characters can interact with within that world? There are two ways we can go about this. We can use Scryfall’s advanced search filters to give us cards only from the Dragons of Tarkir set, or we can just hit the random button and find some silly goof to throw in the world. Since Tarkir is my favorite plane in MTG, let’s stick with someone within the Tarkir-sphere.
Our adventurers will be meeting the lovely……… Kotis!
This guy has been through a lot, so the question is: can your players help this man get some much deserved peace? Perhaps the weight of time has begun to warp Kotis’s brain and he needs help finding the next in line to lead the Sultai clan. Maybe the person who’s the perfect replacement has been captured by a rivaling clan and your group needs to go out to rescue them! If you’re feeling more fiendish, make Kotis the bad guy who’s trying to raise an undead army who is invincible against the clans. There’s a lot to play story-wise with this fella!
The Shiny Toy (Or Sacred Artifact?)
Worlds and characters are cool and all, but what about some cool doodad one of your characters can use? We’ll filter on Scryfall to only have artifact cards pop up, and for this scenario let’s find something that doesn’t originate from the world of Tarkir.
Well, it seems you’ve found a Seraphic Greatsword! During your time in Tarkir, you’ve noticed that these Elder dragons and their loyal followers are made of stout stuff, but surely they’ll be easy to fell with your ANGEL sword. Who crafted such a blade? Where could it be found within the realm of Tarkir and who was the past wielder of its majesticness?
A Beautiful Monster
As of April 2026, Scryfall lists that there are 17,398 creature cards within the fantasy game of MTG. If these cards were people, they would fill up 97% of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA stadium. The days of generic goblins, copy/paste elves, and “I dunno it looks like an owlbear” are gone! You’re going to have 17,000+ beautiful creatures and their art to put in front of your players and see how their characters react to their potential new foe or ally.
Our creature today is none other than the Minotaur Illusionist! You’ve stumbled into his canyon and he has been tracking the whereabouts of the Seraphic Greatsword for years. He’s not going to let your crew simply take it so you can easily free Kotis’s deputy from the Mardu encampment. No no, he will cast illusions of dragon eggs hatching to cause your players to run away out of fear of being caught when momma dragon comes home. Your players could just ask how this dude got in such great shape while also being an excellent magic user.
Take All The Pieces and Put Them Together
A good session sandwich is all about the combination of ingredients. Remind your players where they are, who they’re working with, what artifact has caught their eye, and what monster they’ll need to overcome. Providing your characters the narrative reasons behind these things and the beautiful MTG art that can be found in Scryfall is going to have your players more immersed and bought into the situation. If all else fails and those silly rascals have ignored what you originally had planned for them, just open up Scryfall, hit the random button, and ask them why a certain card would be bad for their party. I hope your next session of TTRPG The Gathering is one to remember, and I’ll see you on the next quest!
We Took The Quest 