I enjoyed the story and game concept behind this. (can't comment on the strategy aspect, since I didn't have anyone around to play it with)
Not sure if I followed the instructions correctly, but here's my interpretation:
To play, I've printed all three sheets (36 ingredients, 5 power labels, 4 power cards) and colored them.
I left out the check and steal cards, as i couldn't mentally fit them into the deck (you can't have them as ingredients, and they seemed redundant). I ended up using them as rat markers.
The power costs (symbols and amount) are randomized each game, with one power being left out. To play a power, I discarded the given amount of hand cards with the matching cost symbol as my turn. (except for "Two", which is passive)
To introduce more mayhem, I could see an addition to the ruleset working well here:
When a player attempts to craft a potion, he peeks at all the ingredient cards.
- if he succeeds, the ingredients are revealed to prove his success.
- if he fails, he only has to point out which of his cards were correct.
This keeps the rest of the players guessing, but gives enough information for the minusing rule.