Instead of the usual leather or hide material components attached to recipes, I wonder if we could have materials that bypass the requirement and alter the outcome cosmetically at least if not otherwise.
For example, I love the looks of cow hide. I have a polyester blanket that keeps me warm and has the pattern of a cow hide on the silky feeling side. I adore my blanket and take it wherever I go.
I don’t care about the durability in essence so maybe that allows me to sense this dilemma from the opposite perspective, to a degree. Hence the tiering of certain items simply feels like an artificial stretch.
If I want a belt to hold my pants up, why do I need to make it from specific leather found from the opposite end of the site and not that which is abundant amongst the biome layer I tread on?
(In the picture is my blanket.)
To make the worn gear feel more personal and make the tiering interesting, my choice would be bovine element. What’s yours?