Some of these changes are a result of semantics, and I'm sure some of you will say to yourselves, "You pompous, snooty, pretentious ass-waste! They're just words, they don't change anything!" Well, you're right. But too are RPG's, they are all words on pages that we the players and masters use to create the actual game inside of out heads. And once we've expended the game across the hours in a fit of dice-rolling and chip-munching, the game goes back into the non-existance from whence it came. Because none of this game-junk ultimately means anything, the words and manner of expressing the game are everything. Here, semantics do matter.
First, changed the word "ability." That grates on my nerves because "ability" is your capacity to accomplish, not your intrinsic nature. I mean really, "intelligence ability" should mean how able you to gather intelligence, not how great your innate mental capacity. "Strenghth Ability?" I am able to strength? It's silly. The word should be either "quality" or "attribute", these words describe how potent or impotent a person. I, personally, prefer attribute.
Second, the attribute names: I can understand that the original designers were trying to stick close to AD&D, for that is where T$R saw the market base that would make Alt a profitable venture. You can evidence for this from the preface of the Player's Handbook, where the author came out and said they were sticking to the format that had worked so well for AD&D. So to stay close, they named four of the attributes from AD&D. Then they changed Wisdom and Charisma into Will and Personality. It all seems a little screwy to me. So I did some changin'.
STRENGTH - strength, in the physical sense of the word, carries the connotation of measuring brawn. When one says "Bob is strong," people expect that Bob can lift heavy stuff, not that he can fight really well or throw with great accuracy. The authors, however, think strength means so much more. They devote several paragraphs telling us how strength doesn't mean what we think it means.
The word I choose to use is POWER. In the physical sciences, power is a function of time and force. Speed and brawn. Thus power is a better word for what the authors are trying to describe than strength. The word carries a connotation of animal grace and sheer, overwhelming energy.
DEXTERITY - a fine word for what they are trying to convey, the control that the thinking mind has over the physcal body. Fine motor skills and precise handling. If I really wanted to change it, I would use the word Steve Jackson Games used in their Angel game; precision, from the Ethereal/Mental sphere.
CONSTITUTION - another fine word for what the authors wish to express. The quality of the stuff that makes up the human body. I couldn't think of a better word.
INTELLIGENCE - Intelligence is an okay word, but I would choose Intellect. Intelligence-the-quality can be confused with intelligence-what-you-know-about-the-enemy. Also, Intelligence is too bound up in IQ, an arbitrary and somewhat skewed measure how well you did on a standardized on a perticular day of the year.
INTELLECT is an unbiased word about the mental processing in your brain, and that is why I like it better.
WILL - A good word. I really can't think of anything better to describe the far-reaching jurisdiction of this quality. Perception, mental resilliancy, stick-to-itiveness, IF there is a better descriptor I can't think of it.
PERSONALITY - Luck and likeability in one attribute. I don't think this word, personality, runs the whole gamut. You need a word that covers the "Right Stuff", the "Libido"... that's right, I think the word should be...
MOJO - I think mojo is a great word for it. A high mojo will keep a gun from blowing up in your hand, get the enemy agent into bed, and give you more Last Resorts. If'n you don't like mojo, CHARM is another good word. Both "he is Charming" and "he leads a Charmed life" stimulate a good response in the lobes.
Thirdly, I would change Damage Ratings to Injury Ratings. Out here in the real world, people receive mortal injuries, not mortal damage.
Fourthly, Stuns, Wounds, and Mortals should not be the province of constitution alone. Stuns should be the Addition of CON and WIL scores, meaning that a willful young archeologist will take a serious beating before falling unconscious. Wounds should be the sum of POW (strength) and CON scores, as just packing more meat on your bones allows you to sustain more outright injury even if you can't hold you likker or handle a common cold. Mortals should be CON scores, not CON halved.
Fifth, because the above essentially doubles the wounding potential of the human body, double the damage ratings of the weapons. When I was thinking up these changes, I actually came up with notion first because I didn't like the current ones. A 9mm pistol does 1d4w on an Ordinary, and a .357 does like 1d4+1w on an Ordinary. There is so little difference between damage potentials between weapons that there is little difference in picking out your toys. More on this latter. Sixth, Fatigue is the lower of either the WIL or CON score. With this change, fatigue can measure both mental and physical strain on the character at the same time. Imagine the scene: A mountaineer hikes his way up the Himalayas to a shrine to learn the secrets of the universe. His fatigue score is low. As per the rules, he is suffering step penalties to all of his actions. He gets to the top of the mountain and to the gates of the temple. The monk at the doorway asks him a riddle. Even though his exhaustion is purely physical in nature, he still suffers penalties against this purelt mental feat, so he fails his check in answering the riddle. Now, with this additional, emotional strain in trying to solve the puzzle, the hero loses his last fatigue point and collapses into a crying heap.