It's a good idea, but how is it different from potions? What kind of benefits are you thinking these will give to the player?
Well, I pursue two different goals:
1. Cheaper consumables with a simple effect.
2. Alternative ingredients.
In details.
1. Okay, let's assume that for creating 3 Health Potions you need 2 strong ingredient: 1 Aggregate Catalyst + 1 Pint of Blood (10 weak ingrediants in total; 3.3 per Health Potion). But at the moment you do not have the necessary amount of these ingredients. I give you an opportunity to create a Health Ointment ( 1 Junk + 1 Blob of Blood; 2 per Health Ointment). But these 2 consumables materials have different effects: Potion - Restores 100HP per 5 seconds, but Ointment - 150HP per 60 seconds. What do you choose?
2. Long story short.

The story built on the Bones.
One evening, I and Abramoff thought about the ingredients for crafting. We had different ideas - eyes, teeth, claws, fangs, scales, etc. But all this is too complicated, there are too many different specific ingredients. If you have a lot of ingredients, it takes a lot of space in your inventory, it requires a complex crafting system.
I have decided that we need a simple and versatile material, I combined everything into a single material - Bones. It is very convenient - 90% of the monsters have a skeleton and consequently bone. You kill monsters - you get the Bones.
Ок, вut when you kill dozens of monsters, you get dozens of bones. You have a lot of bones, but how to spend it? And it's a big problem, because everything you need you can make using other materials. Lockpiks - Metal, Potions - Blood, Armor - Metal + Junk etc. These Bones are simply useless. Yes, you can make a Bone Sword or Bone Armor, but this is completely insufficient.

And later I got a brilliant and simple idea. Who likes the bones? Who makes bone items? Who worships the bones?
This is a Necromancer!

And now we have "The Benefits for Novice Necromancers" - this book contains various secrets of necromancy. How to make a skeleton pet? How to make lockpicks from the bones? How to make a necromantic ointment? All this and more you can find on the pages this manual. And the main ingredient for all recipes - the bones!
You do not have the Metal to make Lockpicks? Do not worry - use recipe Necromantic Lockpick and craft it from the bones.
You need Mana, but you do not have Mana Essences for Mana Potions? Don`t worry, just make the Necromantic Ointment.
