Mundane items help bring low level monsters to life. I don't think I have ever ran a game where the party didn't loot the bodies, and I often make small charts before a session with a few random items that they will find that are totally useless, but may spark imagination of the players, or just make them think they have found something interesting. More importantly, it also helps flesh out a monstrous race in the campaign by allowing players to see what kind of items a creature would have.
It also adds to story immersion, and is a simple way to personalize a goblin. Seems obvious, but in planning, tiny details are sometimes overlooked, and I've found that if I have charts made up before hand, I don't fumble on the fly, and it seems like I know what I'm doing, and I usually get players returning to the table (which is sort of the point). Fumbling as a Game Master is the easiest way to break immersion, and it happens, particularly in mundane details.
A quick note about monsters: in most of my games, orcs and goblins, et al are monsters. I am well aware of some of the controversy and commentary about the idea of an outright evil race, but I started playing in 1989. To me, orcs are evil and eat the flesh of men.
This is an example of a chart I would make, this particular one is a 1d6 to find trinket items on a goblin. It was used making the Homebrewery, which is an absolutely awesome resource. Of course, this isn't official Dungeons and Dragons content, and is not approved by Wizards of the Coast for play, it's purely just something I created. Feel free to use it an adapt it if you want. All resources on this blog are free.
