So what happens when a member of a race is raised by another?

[Akisa]

In 3.5 and PF it is explained that elves get their weapon proficency because it is part of their culture to be trained in them. In some cases this also extend to other bonuses like "elven magic" which I assume is something they learn because of their culture. Now what happens when an orphan elf is raised in a human society, should she really know how to use a long sword?

[Reluctance]

For simplicity's sake, yes.

DMG specifically mentions allowing players to swap certain things out for other things, but then it becomes a question of what those proficiencies are worth. If you feel good balancing on the fly and don't feel like your player is trying to pull one over on you, feel free to mix and match.

[Flickerdart]

Humans use longswords. Humans know that elves use longswords. An elf growing up in a human society might put in the extra practice with it because everyone knows that's just what elves do.

[Psyren]

Some of it is also biological/genetic. Elves "take" quite naturally to archery and swordplay; it's just how they're wired. Just like halflings are naturally good at throwing things.

[Slipperychicken]

Elven minds differ significantly from human ones, to consider the "racial" weapons so simple and intuitive that they don't even need training to use them effectively. That's why Elves think they're superior: What kind of idiot needs to train to use a rapier?

[Honest Tiefling]

On the one hand, I like the racial feature mods of Pathfinder to swap out traits for backstory. Traits also work for this.

On the other, I tend to want to throw things when people have characters raised by another race to get these benefits. I don't mind it when it works well for the character, but I do mind it when the character doesn't seem to care about culture or the player outright admits it.

[Akisa]

According to the races of the wild Elves mature physically at age 30 (while a human matures in their 20s), would that mean it's possible for adopted elves to begin adventuring at age 30~ who grew up in a human culture?

[ThiagoMartell]

According to the races of the wild Elves mature physically at age 30 (while a human matures in their 20s), would that mean it's possible for adopted elves to begin adventuring at age 30~ who grew up in a human culture?

I thought RAW was that humans matured at 15.
But yeah, it looks possible.

[Morph Bark]

This is part of the reason behind my Complete Human (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10848960) 'brew. To split the cultural and genetic parts. The other reasons were to make humans more interesting mechanically and to tie fluff to crunch.