Let's assume that a couple decides to take an orc orphan as their own.
Under the fiat that the couple can raise him without the local neighbors hunting them down, could the couple raise the orc into an upstanding member of society?
Or would the evil alignment of the orc result in him being evil regardless of the people raising him?
DotS.
Are you a DM?
If so, you decide. I could see some old school "All Orcs are evil players" getting upset. Personally, I think nurture would play a pretty big role, but it could easily go either way.
More importantly, do what you think is fun and
what you think your players will enjoy.
If orcs possess intelligence enough to understand language, then there's no real reason why they couldn't be taught to live in society.
Now, even if orcs are prone to aggression, or full blown "evil" behavior, then it's simply a matter of adjusting their behavior to fit the laws of that society.
Besides, presumably this is a medieval English type setting? In which case the orc could do pretty much anything it wanted to, so long as he decided to do it on the !French and it'd be just and good.
Hell, if it's !Italy, he might be pope, if he's got the dough.
>>48286123
nature versus nature. creatures commonly born on the material plane are evolutionarially removed enough from outsiders that the magic dictating their makeup is lessened so they are no longer bound by that magic. Its nurture versus nature.
>>48286123
Greyhawk:
>Evil
Forgotten Realms:
>Evil
Forgotten Realms (if he grows up to be the main character):
>Good, but lives on the fringes of society, never truly at home, with the only constant in his life being struggle and some kind of badass animal companion while he wrestles with the demons of his cultural background
>>48286303
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Many-Arrows
Orcs are just short lived and influenced by Gruumsh to be violent, but in FR they can be good or at least neutral enough to have a functional, non-horde at constant war state.
>>48286123
>>48286123
He might, but Gruumsh is gonna be telling him to be evil all the time (If it's Forgotten Realms)
>>48286123
It depends! What are orcs like in this setting?
In any setting I would run, he would grow into a fine young man, depending on how this couple treats him.
I've honestly never seen this question asked in regards to humans or the good aligned races. I'm kinda curious what the answer might be and it might even give OP some insight into his question.
so
>>Let's assume that a couple decides to take a human orphan as their own.
>>Under the fiat that the couple can raise him without the local neighbors hunting them down, could the couple raise the human into an upstanding member of whatever passes for their society?
>>Or would the good/neutral alignment of the human result in him being good/neutral regardless of the people raising him?
You can replace human with aasimar or other good aligned races if humans are too susceptible to nurture.