Yes, some feats need a certain value to qualify for them, like STR 13 or higher.
You die at negative con score, so that's needed.
Also know if they are odd or even is important when you get bonuses like at lv4.
A handful of things measure your Con score instead of your Con bonus (How long you can hold your breath, how many negative hit points it takes for you to die for good.)
Carrying capacity is measured with score, not modifier...
Also, you'll want to have the score written so when you boost an ability score you'll know when to increase the modifier (Did it increase from even to odd, and thus no change in modifier? Or did it change from odd to even and increase the modifier by 1?)
EDIT: Half-ninja'd
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And finally, ability damage and ability drain require the actual ability score. You die if your CON damage reaches your CON score, you are helpless if your STR or DEX damage reach the associated score, and you fall into a coma if your INT, WIS or CHA reach the corresponding score.
Ability drain actually reduces your ability score (temporarily), and will reduce modifiers and eventually kill/incapacitate you.
For what purpose?
OK thanks for the replies.
I like to look at alternate ways to do stuff, and wondered if ability scores/modifiers could be simplified to one score.
Was thinking that modifiers could be listed in halves. i.e. +1.0 (instead of 12) or +1.5 (instead of 13) and just round it down when using it for a check.
You could do that if you want, but you'd have to do some math conversions on the rules the other posters have mentioned. For example, if you get hit with 3 points of STR damage, your STR would lose 1.5 points of modifier.
And you would die at negative HP equal -10 - CON MODx2 (so if your CON mod is +2.5, you would double that (+5) and then subtract it from -10 to figure out that you die at -15 HP, or if it's -1 then you would double that (-2) and subtract that from -10 to figure out that you die at -8 HP.
Oh, and you'd also want to move this post to Housrules instead of Rules Questions.
Technically, stat damage doesn't reduce your ability score, it just adds penalties for every two points of damage.
True, but when you take enough damage to Con that it's reduced to 0, you die.
Reducing Str and Dex paralyzes you.
Reducing Int, Wis, and Cha makes you into a vegetable.
Wait, why wouldn't taking a point of ability damage to an even ability score not cause the bonus to go down? Thats the entire point of ability damage.
For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.
I'm not sure that that's the ENTIRE point of ability damage, but anyway pathfinder changed it. Took me several run ins with ability damage to stop thinking 3.5y.
Huh, so I guess I have a new houserule.
Why? The entire point of ability damage is that it's less severe than ability drain.
Five Moons is planning to do exactly that, just use the modifiers. It is no longer Pathfinder, but some people want a simpler system anyways.
Pathfinder rules keep the ability scores and use them for all the things mentioned above: ability drain, death threshold based on Con, etc.
This thread presents the perfect opportunity to discuss the difference between ability damage and ability drain.
An important distinction is that ability damage does not affect your ability score. If you have a strength of 16 and you take 3 points of strength damage your strength score is still 16.
On the other hand ability drain actually lowers your ability score. Three points of strength drain would lower a 16 strength to a 13.
For every 2 points of ability damage you take a -1 to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability. However, I don't know if this would have any effect on things like carrying capacity and what level of spells you can cast.
The distinction can be important. For instance, 3 points of ability damage to a 16 strength imparts a -1 penalty to attack rolls, but 3 points of drain would lower the score to 13 and subsequently lower attack rolls by 2.
Ability damage is tracked separately and counts up from zero (similar to non-lethal hit point damage). If your ability damage equals or exceeds your ability score you fall unconscious, with the exception of constitution damage--in which case you die.
Ability drain subtracts directly from your ability score (similar to lethal hit point damage). If your ability score is lowered to zero different things happen, you don't always go unconscious, as in the case with dexterity.
So for instance, you could have a strength score of 16 and suffer 3 points of damage. You would now be taking a -1 penalty to attack rolls and swim checks etc. Later you could take 3 points of strength drain which would lower your score to 13 and your attack rolls would be lowered by 2 while simultaneously suffering a -1 penalty from the 3 points of damage. Later on you could get walloped for 10 more points of damage and fall unconscious because your total accumulated strength damage is 13 which is equal to your score of 13 down from 16 because of the drain.
A couple years ago I read a thread on a homebrew forum (not on Paizo.com) in which the author significantly redesigned 3.5. One of the changes was to eliminate ability scores, and just use ability modifiers (with a modifier of -5 having the same effects a score of 0 has by RAW). I can't find where it was, though.
There is also the True 20 system from Green Ronin Publishing. It is a D20 system that, among many other innovations like replacing hit points with a system of conditions and fortitude checks, does away with ability scores in lieu of a "modifier" between -5 and +5.
I would love to play that system some day, but alas, I doubt I would ever find people willing to give it a try.