Here's a passage from a story I vaguely remember:
The ritual involves gruesome acts like self-mutilation or sacrifice, but also some __ steps like standing on a skyscraper and humming for three hours.
I'm looking for a single word that I can fill in the blank. I've been suggested phrases like "relatively normal", but I am pretty sure that this was a single word.
Less extreme could be another option.
I'd be inclined to go with something like intermediate or perhaps lesser for that passage.
By comparison, standing on a skyscraper etc is benign.
How about mundane?
conventional
con·ven·tion·al/kənˈvenCHənl/
Adjective:
Based on or in accordance with what is generally done or believed.
convention (norm)
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.
'... it is conventional in many societies that strangers being introduced shake hands.'
alternatives: customary, the-done-thing, en vogue, the usual ...
I would suggest that you revise your interpretation of normal itself. Consider this: 'In our practice, average is normal.' If a patient is underweight by WHO standards, but close to the average for his demographic, the patient's weight is considered normal.
Compared to self-mutilation, standing on a skyscraper and humming is prosaic:
prosaic, adjective: belonging to or suitable for the everyday world [MW]
You could also say that it's humdrum (another synonym for prosaic).
