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Since I kind of need multiple projects going at once, here's something I've been thinking about.

You play the Labrats, mutant critters who are trying to rebuild civilization after the apocalypse and to survive the experiments of the human corporations in the clouds. Superpowers, comic book science, and the occasional bits of magic are spackled about and plenty of the Labrats have mutations or implants from the meddling of the scientists. There are plenty of Labrat civilizations, but many are under constant threat of, or violently controlled by, the humans.

The major themes of the setting would probably be progress, power, and class. What does it take to build something when the oppressors only want to use you and keep you under their thumb?

The dice mechanic is to roll from a pool of six sided dice and choose three to keep. Highest number wins.

Characters are connected to the setting through Plotlines and Relationships. I'm still figuring these out, but they are probably going to be the advancement mechanic.

It might be a point buy, skill based system. Powers are effects based since the setting allows a pretty broad range and it's an action game so what you can do should matter. So here's some pre-rough draft combat rules to build that around.

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Movement is abstracted out to simple descriptors. She is NEAR the fire extinguisher, they are FAR AWAY from the camp site, ze is in the PERSONAL SPACE of the robot. A certain amount of fudging might be allowed here. Barriers are a thing.

During combat you might take or inflict a Condition which limits your abilities. "Burned", "dazed", "hacked", etc. They're rated for Severity as well. You can only take so many points in severity of conditions before you're overwhelmed and taken out of the scene. You can are also able to manipulate the environment to make conditions for you.

Placing a condition on an opponent is a matter of comparing skill rolls between the two. If the attacker wins then they get to inflict a Condition. They take the difference between the two and that becomes the Condition's Severity Rating.

If you reach your capacity for Condition Severity then you might not necessarily die. Rather you might be captured or injured. You would be able to spend a Hero Point to stay on your feet for another round, but you'll probably be facing heavier consequences because of that. Either way your ability to affect the plot is diminished temporarily but you might be able to catch a second wind and come back in a big way.

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So the following sorts of effects are available for powers...
Theme: A word or phrase outlining what the power is on a conceptual level.
Range: Default is Personal(punching distance).
Movement: Can you move using the power? If so, how far?
Inflicting Conditions: Does it inflict any Conditions?
Treating Conditions: Does it treat any Conditions?
Limits: Are there any special limitations on the power?
Extras: Things like immunity to certain conditions or certain kinds of barriers you can ignore.
Plotline: A Plotline which the power is attached to.

Hero Points create opportunities for spectacular heroics. Whether that's staying up when you should be knocked out or otherwise taken out of the fight (once per scene, lasts for a turn), adding an object to the scene (once per turn, GM fiat), creating a plot opportunity (GM fiat), or even adding another d6 to your roll(one per point spent), spending a hero point could give you the edge you need. You gain Hero Points for playing your character to their Plotlines (still figuring these out) and providing juicy bits of roleplay.

just be careful this doesn't turn into TMNT: and other strangeness. sounds like its book after the bomb....don't stop but think about what feature makes this world, yours.

The humans could be doing social experiments too. They get the ground dwellers to think that they should emulate different historical societies. One tribe has an pharaoh and is trying to build a pyramid while their neighbors are emulating china's culture.

"So what are doing tonight, Brain?"
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to Rebuild the World!"

Ok, I should probably be referencing "The Secrets of Nimh" or "Watership Down" with transgenic animals before that old cartoon, but then we couldn't do Orson Wells impressions all day could we?

So far this sounds good, but you probably need a system to remind players that they are rats. There is a big difference between being a human-sized anthropomorphic creation of Dr. Moreau and a very smart half-kilo animal. To start, the skills/attributes might be thematically named - Whiskers/Instinct replaces wits/wisdom. More in depth, you might impose a word limit on descriptions and communications or plans can only have X number of steps since they don't have human level mental capacity.(One of my old projects did this to encourage people to think like velociraptors.) Some sort of scale modifiers to account for various objects and creatures in the environment perhaps?

Lets back up for a moment, and ask how complex do you want this to be? Is it just a beer and pretzels "weird adventures of oddly intelligent lab rats"? Or are you thinking of allegorical creatures seeking a homeland and building a community? "Pinky and the Brain" vs "An American Tale" if you will indulge some aging Spielberg cultural references.

Going the later route, there are a few additional layers that could be added. Could there be some sort of society element - players spend their XP to advance a settlement? Bonuses for various government types, and either Maslow's heirarchy of needs or various ideas about pillars of government could be included at this point too. (Animal Farm the RPG - sheep baying "d4 good, 2d8 bad...") I'm working on this sort of system for "Dead... and Back".

[Orson Wells]Yes![/Orson Wells]

It's definitely going to be more of a Beer 'N' Pretzels, pick up and play game. The setting was inspired by The Secret of NIMH and Sonic the Hedgehog. Less "allegorical creatures building a homeland and a community" and more "saturday morning cartoon romp with some dark patches and dramatic weight." One heavy project at a time, thanks.

I'd like to make the game viable for a few different settings, each with the same assumptions about the PCs. So you could play Chip 'n' Dale (powers don't necessarily have to appear superhuman) or Post-Apocalyptic Secret of NIMH pretty easily. Just change the assumption of what sorts of Plotlines you'd be using.

Scale had totally slipped my mind. But yes, scale is definitely needed in a game like this.

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DISTANCE
The distance between two points.
Personal - Whisper or handshake range.
Very Near - Can walk up to it. Moving this distance in a turn is free unless you have a Condition which prevents you from doing so. Then it costs an action.
Near - Sprinting distance. The distance across a table. Moving this far costs an action.
Room - The distance across a room.
Far - The Horizon.
Very Far - Beyond the Horizon.

SCALE
How large a thing is compared to the typical Labrat. This is to inform the player and GM on how difficult it would be to lift a thing, hide inside it, or even strike it from a distance.
Minuscule - The size of small insects like mosquitoes or fireflies.
Small - A human coin or a bottle cap.
Labrat - Labrats are generally about half a foot high, sometimes larger or smaller.
Large - Most Labrat vehicles fall into this scale. This is the size of any structure which could comfortably fit two to four Labrats.
Tremendous - The size of a tree or a Labrats building.

To modify the scale or distance just place a descriptor before it. Human Tremendous is a lot bigger than Labrat Tremendous is bigger than Insect Tremendous.

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Skills would be mundane level abilities in a Labrats context. Claws for fighting, Whiskers for awareness, Wings for flight without a power, Brains for fixing and building simple gadgets, and so on.

Brains - Doing science to, making, and repairing things.
Claws - Fighting without tools.
Darwin - Survival and adaptation. Specify what environment you are most able to survive in.
Deceit - Lying and hiding things.
Ears - Communication and listening. Convincing others.
Eyes - Attention to detail. Gathering information and making judgments.
Legs - Speed and agility.
Network - Knowledge of goings on, especially in regards to the developing Labrats world.
Society - Labrat civilizations are often far apart and of very different cultures. This skill lets you connect and communicate with other cultures.
Stalk - Sneaking and burglary.
Vehicles - Driving Labrat vehicles. Directing others when driving human vehicles. Repairing vehicles of all kinds.
Weapons - Fighting with tools.
Wings - A winged Labrat's ability to fly.
Whiskers - Awareness and initiative.

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As far as the setting is concerned, I'm working on that. The apocalypse was not caused by a bomb, but rather a sort of super virus. Certain people are immune, others are not. Humans are almost never immune but the Labrats, whose ancestors were a part of the original testing of the virus, and many other animals and plants were.The strain which the virus eventually mutated into reacted to them in strange ways. Thus, super powers.

Okay, PLOTLINES!

I'm actually thinking of ditching this concept and instead going for a story map created during character creation. Each time a player creates a significant change to the story map through their actions they are granted either a Hero Point or a skill point. This depends on if the change is something really important to the character (for example, the death of a loved one) or not.

Interesting! Can you elaborate some more on this story map concept? What goes on to the map - only information about the players, or information about the GM's plot? Do the player get to see it?

A story map is basically a flowchart of the setting, including locations, supporting characters, and plot points ("She's going to die later." for example) as well as antagonists. It's collaboratively created during character generation and everybody can see it.

The GM's plot is independent from it, though it would probably benefit from tying into it.