For me it’s more about trivializing certain puzzles. Pretty much everything with a chasm gets reduced to “I pick up a rope and fly over there.”. Sometimes, that’s ok, but sometimes I don’t want it to be that simple.

Well, life has gotten a whole lot simpler, since I stopped DMing DnD altogether.

Quite a few people have commented about possible societal models for such a community. So I’ll extend this by adding some thoughts about specific environmental challenges.

One would assume that the conditions in the lower levels are not very nice, so maybe rampant drug usage could be a thing. Some mongrels might be in pain due to the procedure and abuse pain killers. Others may just want to escape reality. Someone has to supply these. Maybe they’re a misguided individual who wants to help their peers, maybe they’re a stone cold profiteer who will make for an amazing miniboss. Who knows?

Another important factor is food. Mushrooms grow in dark places and could make up a lot of the diet of the mongrel folk. Or a former botanist could experiment with plants that grow under these conditions. Maybe there’s even some animal husbandry going on. Or if you want there to be a darker twist, cannibalism is always an option. Maybe it’s even part of their society. Being chosen to be the next meal is a great honor.

Lastly, what do the mongrels do for fun? Do they enjoy pit fights?If so, the players could take the wrong way into the arena room and face a crowd of cheering mongrels and some tough opposing fighters. Are there storytellers who remember some fragments of their human lives? Perhaps even some trash collectors who are willing to sell their strange goods even to outsiders?

I’ll be the counterpart and just say it right there. I’m the Mr. Frodo on most parties. But I aspire to be the Gandalf on some! :)

My fairy is chaotic good, but throughout the campaign had some traumatic experiences that shifted her towards a more chaotic neutral alignment in some regards. I don’t know the rogue’s alignment, but I would guess somewhere in the chaotic-neutral or true neutral area with tendencies of “kill first, ask questions later”.

Tbh, I find your mindset understandable, but highly problematic. Why should the chaotic characters always be understanding of the stick up your ass behaviour of the lawful characters while the lawful characters see it as their god given right to tell everyone else how to behave. Sure, in the real world, these characters would probably just go their separate ways, but this is pen and paper. It’s everyone’s job to make sure the party sticks together. And that includes the lawful-stupid characters and their players!

1. We had a session zero, but some things have changed since then. The biggest change is that we got thrown into the doomed forgotten realms at some point. This caused a lot of in character trauma and may have caused my character to shift more towards a neutral alignment.
2. The clerics player absolutely despises lawful-good clerics in particular. So I’m sure, we’re in for a surprise somewhere down the line.
3. This has probably to do with our DM using a module that is written way darker than their usual style of play.
4. Yes, I will most definitely do that. This post is mainly about finding ways to articulate my point.
5. Oh, the crisis of faith is definitely coming. I’m just afraid it might involve them PVPing the entire party which I really don’t enjoy in a pen and paper group.

I honestly really like the second idea. Even though money is no motivator for my fey, I think I can use a similar argument really well in roleplay. Thank you very much.