I can't say what is AL specific or not past the witches (i installed like 3 expansions all at once so im not sure what features are new from which pack) but the 2 things which have bothered me with witches are alignment and reagent. I wouldn't mind the reagent costs on creating objects since objects = physical thus need physical components of some sort.... but magic is magic no bloody alchemy thus it should at most have a motive drain. I already have hacks for no reagents and no alignment changes and no alignment requirements... The biggest trick is to avoid the temptation of having your infallibly good witch cast the population mood booster spell all the time to keep every one's motives up (kind of kills the challenge.... i personally only use it once per day usually in the morning or early afternoon depending on work schedules and such)
One big annoyance i have with it, and im not sure if this is a bug or intended, but I can't cast the chicken spirit spell on the evil mascot....keeps saying they are busy and should try again later even when i make the bugger selectable and have him walk from point A to B.... =/ Not sure about other harmful spells since my witch is max good (and havnt gotten a chance to play with no-alignment requirements yet, just got'em from a link earlier in this thread re-posted here for your convenience:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,12918.0.html )
And since it was mentioned elsewhere in the thread about custom spells that would be pretty cool if any one was working on some and looking for ideas:
Curse with... (special status such as werewolf, vampire, or plantism)
Cure of... (same as above but remove status)
Water Plants (pretty obvious, all plants on the lot which NEED watering get watered)
Aspiration Boost (boosts sim's aspiration bar to max gold...max platinum seems a little too powerful)
Compel to... (exact same as influence to... but magical and thus no influence points needed, not to be confused with 'forced acceptance' spell which is already there)
Slay by... (kill them using any method you want with some sanity checks in play....no death by satellite if they are inside for example)
Alien Abduction (again obvious, why just banish the sim when you can get them a free anal probe while you're at it? >=D )
Spirit Dog (because some prefer dogs over cats)
Love Sick for... (target instantly develops crush+love for selected sim on lot)
EM Storm (breaks all electronics on lot and causes all servos to freak out then break. If caster is a servo its immune.)
Summon Light (makes it daytime for the next 6 hours)
Summon Darkness (makes it night for the next 6 hours)
Summon Day Moon (Werewolves on lot transform even if daytime)
Spirit Transfer (kills caster via old age, target's memories, relations, gender bias, personality, and status as a playable sim (if cast on NPCs) become the same as the casters. Skills and Talent badges become whichever of the two is higher. Fitness, Job related items are left alone. Also because of the drain it would cause on the body and mind, all motives are nuked (similar to a failed usage of the motive booster aspiration item). I know i missed a few things of how they would swap but it should give a good idea of what i'm talking about) And yes, i realize this one would probably be ridiculously hard to do, just figured I'd toss it out there any way.
Philosopher's Stone - Aspiration Reward - 50k? (Lets you cast any spell from any alignment with 100% success regardless of you magic level or alignment. Non-witch sims may use it to become a witch. 5 charges. Backfire is it auto-fails the spell you tried as well as causing you to lose 2 magic skill, if you have 1 or less magic skill you also lose your witch/warlock status because you should not do magic that you do not understand)
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