Just an idea: What if trophies served a function other than just decorative? Could the trophies that are displayed in one’s home give something like a +10 combat bonus against that animal type (only one trophy bonus per animal type – so no stacking multiples of the same trophy). So, like a blessing, whenever the player is out in the world, if he/she has a Dragon trophy up (on display) back at their base, they would receive a +10 combat bonus when fighting Dragons.
I’m not sure if its feasible or even worth it. (and the +10 is just an arbitrary number to represent the bonus – nothing game breaking, but some kind of slight impact on gameplay).