Spells

Spells are part of the magic that is featured in The Sims: Makin' Magic and The Sims 2: Apartment Life.

The Sims: Makin' Magic
Magic, spells, and charms were introduced to SimCity in Makin' Magic. The premise is simple: Sims collect ingredients and combine them to create a useful spell. However some magic can only be used by adults, while some can only be used by children.

To start casting, you'll receive a box from the Mystery Man. Inside the box there is a spell book, a wand charger, a wand, 35 MagicCoins, and a Hole in the Ground. You also get some basic ingredients. If you want to make charms, you'll need to go into Buy Mode and buy the EverAfter Crafter. You can look up spells and charms in the spell book and see what ingredients you need for each, and whether they go in the wand charger or the EverAfter Crafter. However, you will not see the name of the spell or charm until someone in the family has made it.

Children can also perform magic. They collect ingredients and place them within their own magical combiner, called the MagiCo NeoMagical Newt. Most children's magic is done with charms, but kids have their own versions of the Get Happy, Smiley Face, and Enchant spells. The kid versions of Get Happy and Smiley Face can be used on adults.

Ingredients
Sims need to collect ingredients to create a useful spell. Of course, some ingredients are harder to obtain than others, and that means some spells are more difficult to produce. Some Ingredients can be bought with MagiCoins, and some can be bought with simoleons. Many ingredients can be made or gotten at home. Some ingredients can only be obtained by bartering with vendors in MagicTown, or by performing tasks for them.

Wand charging and charm making
To add ingredients to the wand charger, NeoMagical Newt, or EverAfter Crafter, click "Add...". You will see a pie menu with all ingredients the Sim has which can be added to that combiner. To see what's in the combiner, click "Read Label". To empty it, click "Empty Out".

Once the three ingredients have been added, click on the combiner and select "Charge Wand" (for the wand charger), "Make Magic" (for the NeoMagical Newt), or "Make Charm" (for the EverAfter Crafter). With spells, the number of charges an adult gets depends on the type of spell and the Sim's Cooking skill. Kids only get one charge when they charge their wands, but kid's charms always get six charges. The number of charges an adult charm gets depends on the type of charm and the maker's Mechanical skill.

How to cast spells
Click on the Sim you want to cast at, or the object you want to enchant. If the option "Cast..." appears, click on it and you'll see a pie menu with all the spells which that Sim can cast at that target.

Enchant and Enchant Jr can only be cast on inanimate objects, and not all of them. A Friend Indeed can only be cast on family pets. Other spells can only be cast on Sims who have been greeted. If the "Greet" option appears when you click on a Sim, you can't cast at that Sim until they've been greeted.

List of spells
This is a list of spells that can be cast.

List of charms

 * Beauty or Beast/Beauty or Beast Jr: This temporarily changes the appearance of your Sim, either into a beautiful Sim or a horrific monster, such as a Werewolf, SheWolf, Vampire, Vampiress, Witch, Headless Horseman, Troll, Ogress, Crone, Hunchback, Minotaur, Nymph or Genie. Children will change into one of two 'costumes' based on gender. Both have the skeleton 'costume', the boy has a green goblin costume and girls have a genie wizard costume. However, if you are seen using the charm by a Sim who doesn't possess a wand, every Sim on the lot will have their heads replaced with that of a donkey's. Beauty or Beast requires three lots of Beeswax. Beauty or Beast Jr requires three lots of Toadstools.


 * Horn of Plenty (Adult only): This charm will generate about 4 to 5 plates of food and place them on a nearby surface. However, the lot will become the scene of a plague of toads if the Sim casting the charm has a full Hunger bar. The toads can be kissed. Requires two lots of Magical Beans and some Golden Thread.


 * Dish Wish (Adult only): This charm clears up any dirty dishes on your lot. If you use this charm and there are no dirty dishes on the lot, though, several dirty plates will appear. Requires two lots of Golden Thread and some Llama Spit.


 * Rain of Riches (Adult only): This charm will generate piles of jewels and coins around the lot. If the Sim casting it is in a bad mood, however, the house will be flooded. Requires Beeswax, a Rubber Chicken and Diamond Dust.


 * Polar Attraction (Adult only): This charm will result in positive social interactions and responses from other Sims. However, if the caster's Body skill is less than 2, other Sims will reject most of your interactions. Requires Beeswax, Dragon Scales and Llama Spit.


 * Shed Your Skin (Adult only): This charm will turn your Sim into a ghost of sorts. They will become transparent like ghosts, but cannot walk through walls. If it is used during the day or by a Sim that is already a ghost, the lot will become overrun with snakes. Requires two lots of Beeswax and some Sands of Time.


 * Clone Drone/Clone Drone Jr: This charm will create an exact clone of your Sim which can be sent to work or school while your Sim works on their skills or just relaxes for the day. However, if your Sim is very hungry, the clone will spontaneously combust. Clone Drone requires: Beeswax, Sands of Time and Pegasus Feather. Clone Drone Jr requires: Toadstools, Dragon Scales and Dragon Tears.


 * Perfect Garden (Adult only): This charm will make all plants, vegetable crops or vineyard crops be fully grown instantly. However, if you have a gnome on your lot, they will come to life and kick the caster in the shins and then proceed to kill the plants. Requires Golden Thread, Magical Bean and Four Leaf Clover.


 * Magic Mood (Adult only): This charm will give the caster, or everybody on the lot, a boost to all their motives, except for Room. However, all motives will be reduced to red except for room if the caster is in a good mood already. Requires Beeswax, Magical Beans and Glacial Glass.


 * Of House and Home (Adult only): This charm summons the cleaning spirit Wally O' Wisp to clean your house for you quickly and efficiently at no cost to you. If the Sim using the charm is in a bad mood or has a low Neat score, Wally's sister Molly will appear instead and cause havoc in your house. Requires Golden Thread, Glacial Glass and Pegasus Feather.


 * Price of Fame (Adult only): The Sim using the charm will change to the Superstar career track and have a star level of 4.5 Celebrity. If the caster has a Star Power of around 3 stars or over, though, about five Obsessed Fans will appear by the Sim. Requires Beeswax, Diamond Dust and Black Rose.


 * No More Puddles? (Child only): This charm brings the caster's Hygiene bar up to maximum. Hygiene will drop to about half full if it is already full, though. Requires two lots of Toadstools and Dragon Tears.


 * Make Cakes (Child only): This charm conjures cakes for the child to eat. If the child's Hunger bar is full or near-full, toads will appear instead. Requires two lots of Toadstools and Faerie Dust. The Maxis version has a glitch that causes it to backfire almost every time, but fixed versions are available for download.


 * Age of Instant (Child only): This charm will cause the child to grow up into an adult, and is irreversible. However, if the child's grades are below A-, or if he or she is hungry, the child will revert back to being a baby, and may change sex. If the charm is successful, any Faerie Dust the child has will be lost, and the child's wand will be replaced with an adult's wand. The new adult will still have any abilities the child gained from Crystal Clear Ability Rocks. However, spells in the child's wand are not upgraded to their adult equivalents, but will be lost. Requires two lots of Dragon Scales and Toadstools.


 * Invisible Friend (Child only): This charm creates an invisible friend for the child to play and talk with. Sometimes, though, the invisible friend will insult, tease and kick the caster. Requires two lots of Faerie Dust and Toadstools.

Magical growths
These are items that appear on a Residential lot after adult Sims who live there cast enough spells or charms.

The Sims 2: Apartment Life
You must be a Witch to perform spells. Witches with higher magic skill have a higher success rate when casting spells and have access to the more powerful spells. To cast a spell, you simply need to have a Magical Sim selected, then click on any object, Sim, or open space on the ground you wish to interact with as normal. Then select the option Cast Spell . . .. Different spells will be available depending on the target objects, Sim's, the selected Witch's Magical Ability and magical Raegents the Sim has in their posession at the time.

Spells are organized into three categories: "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil". You need to have a perfect alignment in one of the three magics to cast the strongest spells of that alignment. For example a perfectly "good" witch can craft a "throne of light" which is the ultimate chair that charges all motives simultaneously. This also means that as a Witch strays further and further from one side, they slowly begin losing the ability to cast that alignment's spells. However, any Witch can cast any Neutral Spell, provided they have the magical ability to do so, but conversely, a fully Neutral Witch cannot cast either the powerful Good spells or the powerful Evil spells. A witch with the perfect alignment in the neutral range can cast the most powerful spell in all of the alignments, Tempus Interruptus.

"Neutral" spells
"Neutral" spells are either beneficial to the caster.

"Evil" spells
"Evil" spells ruin other Sim's lives.

Credits

 * List of spells and their reagents compiled by mpg2003
 * List Good Spell levels compiled by skyline220

Trivia
The spell Tabula Rasa refers to the philosophical concept, which states that humans are born with no innate knowledge, and that therefore all behavior is learned. It is also the name of a sixth season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which a spell causes the characters to forget who and what they are.