I had some thoughts recently about creating a deck of treasure cards. But before I put a bunch of effort into creating the deck and the system I want to use for it, I wanted to put up my thoughts here for you all to critique. That way, I can get a better idea of what will work, what will make it easy to use, and such. So, here's the idea:

First, the deck will be mostly mundane items. Sure, I will throw magic items at my players, but the focus here is to make a deck of treasure that the PCs probably sell. So, when the players get their treasure after an encounter, I can tell them how much coins (if any) they find, maybe a magic item, and throw them a few cards of things like a "Small Ruby" or "Silver Necklace" or "Length of Silk Fabric" or "Statue of Ioun". They can go to whatever town and whatever vendor they wish to sell these items.

Now, on these cards I want to have a code, something like five numbers in a corner of the card. A couple of these numbers (like the third and fourth number in the code, or whatever combination I decide) will match up to a number on a table. That table will show what the standard price for that particular item.

I think this will help my game with a bit of roleplay and world-exploration. For example, if the PCs decide to try to sell an item to a vendor who they do a lot of business with or who lives in a town that the PCs recently helped defend from orcs, that vendor might decide to give the PCs a great price for the item (maybe 10% more). However, if the PCs go to a vendor who is particularly greedy or who belongs to a faction that is in opposition to the PCs, that vendor may give the PCs a bad deal (maybe 15% less than the item is worth).

In addition, if the PCs want to know how much an item is worth, I'll let them do an appraisal check. I'll let them use whatever skill they want depending on how they describe how they are appraising the item. For example, a wizard might use an Arcana check to try to find out if the item has any magical properties that could add to the worth of a gem. Or a rogue might use streetwise to check in with some contacts and see how much a certain jewel usually brings in. Also, the PCs can feel free to barter with a shopkeeper if they feel like it might help bring up the price (and let 'em roleplay it out).

The way I feel, this will help the players invest in the world. I want to use factions more in my next campaign, and I think that something like this will get the players to think more about their actions and how those actions will affect their place in the world. It will give the world a more realistic feel. It will also give me an opportunity to roleplay my shopkeepers more, and add in NPC allies and enemies. So, are there any thoughts on this? Any tips to make it better/easier/more fun?