J.Quondam
CR 1/8
It's always fun when a PC (or even just the player) takes a shine to some little thing, or finds an unexpected use for it as a tool, a bribe, or accessory.
From the DM's side, a couple times I've also used things like this as ad hoc clues or keys, when the party got stuck or missed the "real" one. For example, changing a magic door's lock on the fly to match an weird symbol brooch taken off a local cultist, when the "real" key was in the gullet of an otyugh they beat a couple levels back. It's not ideal to do too often, but it can keep things moving if needed.
Though I've sometimes wondered if a drawback of making too many random treasures be significant is that a DM might inadvertently create a bunch of Chekhov's Guns? Then players might start assuming that everything with a description is significant. There's a similar risk with dungeon dressing description, as well, I suppose.
From the DM's side, a couple times I've also used things like this as ad hoc clues or keys, when the party got stuck or missed the "real" one. For example, changing a magic door's lock on the fly to match an weird symbol brooch taken off a local cultist, when the "real" key was in the gullet of an otyugh they beat a couple levels back. It's not ideal to do too often, but it can keep things moving if needed.
Though I've sometimes wondered if a drawback of making too many random treasures be significant is that a DM might inadvertently create a bunch of Chekhov's Guns? Then players might start assuming that everything with a description is significant. There's a similar risk with dungeon dressing description, as well, I suppose.