Off and on I've contemplated the concept of an elf who's adoptive parents were dwarves. What I want to know, is how being raised by and among dwarves would effect an elf? Would dwarves even put up with such a frail beardless creature being raised among them? Should there be any statistical adjustments, like replacing an elven weapon familiarity with that of a dwarf's?
And most important of all; Given the inability of elves to grow hair on their faces, how would such an individual make up for the lack of a proper beard?
I put this here, because I just felt it was the best spot. I am asking about this in terms of the setting. In other settings, the answer certainly could differ. In one the races might be all buddy buddy, where as another the elf would never be taken in.
Depends upon the individual Dwarf family. Even in a hostile setting, a few families would probably be willing to raise an Elf orphan.
With respect to Weapon Familiarity, I always thought this was weird -- weapon familiarity (and language) should go with your culture, not your race, since both are learned rather than genetically encoded (at least for the so far available playable races; conceivably, Kasathas could have developed weapons that require three four hands to operate and thus not be usable by anybody else without polymorphing, but as far as I know, no such thing has been created).
Depends upon the individual Dwarf family. Even in a hostile setting, a few families would probably be willing to raise an Elf orphan.
With respect to Weapon Familiarity, I always thought this was weird -- weapon familiarity (and language) should go with your culture, not your race, since both are learned rather than genetically encoded (at least for the so far available playable races; conceivably, Kasathas could have developed weapons that require three four hands to operate and thus not be usable by anybody else without polymorphing, but as far as I know, no such thing has been created).
you make a good point. I'd agree with that. Languages are changed to the race that raised them, and weapon familiarity is dropped in favor of the race that raised them's weapon familiarity or to one of their own racial traits that can replace it.
Though, here is another thing; Racial Archetypes. Should such an elf have access to Exarch, Foehammer, Forgemaster, and/or Stonelord? Some racial archetypes are clearly tied to race, but others seem more to be cultural than having a true dependency upon the race.
Good point about racial archetypes and prestige classes (especially Redeemer Paladin, which really ought to be available to a lot more races traditionally considered monstrous even though they are actually standard Humanoids in most cases). (In a few cases, an archetype or prestige class just won't work without a racial ability -- the example that comes to mind is Halfling Opportunist, which needs the Halfling's Luck -- although I also think it is strange that Halflings get this ability instead of Gnomes, for whom it would be more thematically fitting with their Fey origins, as well as needed with their lacklustre other features.)
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My current PC in Out of the Abyss, a PbP campaign, is Lanezra, a Half-Fey (using mechanic of Half Elf) that was raised by Dwarves. Lanezra's backstory is on the alias's Profile page here, if you're interested in the Fluff I'm doing for "a frail beardless (elflike, fey) creature."