rethinking ability scores
I agree with you that attributes or abilities should make sense to players and be logical from today's perspective. And they should be the modifier. I actually started working on such a system and found alpha playtesters but alas, had a baby and too many other games going. If you want to take a look and my scattered thoughts.
I'd say there are five categories of ability scores and you can have as many abilities within each category as suites your preferences (level of crunch). The 5 categories would be Physical, Mental, Social, Spiritual, and Emotional. Almost everything you may wish to include in a game falls into one of these five categories. You could further break down each category into things such as Force, Finesse, and Endurance (like WoD or D&D).
This essentially becomes a matter of determining two things whenever you want to do something. First, what part of your being are you using (body, mind, soul, etc.) Second, how are you trying to influence or interact with the world around you (breaking things with force, manipulate with caution and skill, or resist the effects of other entities and forces acting on you)? This would function like strength, Dexterity, and constitution in d&d or just limo then all together into a "body" ability, however you and your group of players prefer.
You could use a lot of the same mechanics and just tie them to different ability scores and change the flavor. If you want to shoot lighting from your hands that could be tied to the physical attribute for a superhero, mind for a psionic Mass effect sci-fi Character, soul for a mage or sorcerer, emotion for a bard or 5e Paladin driven by personal conviction, and social Character who channels the power of other beings they have made pacts with (clerics with gods or Warnocks with devils).
Anyway, thanks for putting up with my idea dump. There's my two cents. Or two dollars.
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:21, Mon 21 Aug 2017.