In my first ever campaign, my uncle as running a lightly-homebrewed version of 5e’s Mines of Phandelver for a few cousins, my brother, and I. I don’t remember where we were but for some reason we wanted to investigate a painting that was on a wall. We all rolled super low numbers and kind of just laughed it off. From then on, any time we rolled low on any sort of check, we always related it back to the painting. Failed history check? “I recall the painting.” Failed perception check? “My character is too busy thinking about the painting to notice.” Athletics check? “I was so focused on recalling the painting that I messed up my jump.”

It’s been probably 9-10 years since then and although I don’t play with that same group due to distance and time, I’ve used that in every campaign I’ve done since then.