As some might recall my avatar of over 3k hours (divided between two plays-through) was originally intended as a throw-away character and as such was given a name that has nothing to do with him. I've long known there is a console command that us PC users can type to change avatar names: player.setactorfullname XXXX (or "XXX XXXX" if using a space). After all this time I contemplate doing so. But with over 2k hours on my avatar in his current incarnation I'm paranoid. Is this command perfectly save so that it doesn't not alter vital stats or reset things such as number of assaults and items stolen? (My search results unearthed absolutely nothing about negative consequences associate with command. On the other hand, they didn't come out and say it was totally safe either.)

Also, what is the the total number of characters the game allows for an avatar name?

It only renames the base object. Doesn't do anything else. It's used sparingly, but if it's good enough for Martin, it's good enough for you.

And it's "SetActorFullName," for the record.