Pondering ideas, need input

So this is the rarely-used 'writing' portion of this 'writing/gaming' blog. I'm fully aware I don't have a lot to contribute on this side of things, even if we filter out my gaming session write-ups and compare game-writing to fiction-writing.

Regardless, I'm considering something relatively major with regards to my writing, and I'm seeking input.

Some context, just in case: For almost a decade now I've been building up a furry cyberpunk setting I've been calling 'Conversion.' The setting picks up a few decades into the future, where circumstances forced a sizable chunk of the Earth's population into undergoing a process of being turned into anthropomorphic animals. (I'd go into further detail but at that point I'd just be reposting the first chapter.) Hence the name 'Conversion.' I've written a number of smaller stories in this setting, but there's been a larger 'central' work I've been very gradually writing in chunks, and that story is almost finished (I'm in the late stages of writing a denouement). Said story is the one I initially named 'Conversion,' and through it established much of the setting's basics. I used to post chapters here to the blog in addition to other sites, but there wasn't enough interest to warrant further cross-posting. 

You can find all that here if you're curious. (Rating-wise, I'd put the central story at PG-13-level violence with R-level swearing. And while the site isn't inherently NSFW unless you're logged in with an account, it may still trip some work filters.)

But now we get to the meat of the matter. I'd been looking at 'Conversion' as the overall setting name for a while, and I've been trying to work up alternate names for that central story for when I finish it, edit/polish it, and post an updated, collected version that all reads like it came from the same writer and not a half-dozen incrementally-better writers over time. But more recently, in addition to all that, I've been looking over the setting as a whole and considering renaming/rebranding it. In particular, I'm concerned that the name 'Conversion' gives the impression that these are transformation stories in of themselves. In addition, only a handful of characters featured in the stories so far have actually undergone the Conversion process themselves -- most of the leads have been second-generation anthros.

So I'm just looking for input, suggestions, or even any advice on how I can sort this out for myself. We're talking about a story and a setting I've been putting effort into for nine-and-a-half years, and it's only very recently I've put any serious thought into changing the name, and it might be a 'forest for the trees' scenario.

If anyone has anything they want to contribute, feel free to comment here, or whatever social media site that linked the post, or over on FurAffinity if you have an account there.

Thanks in advance, even just for reading this far. I appreciate it.

Tales of the Moonlight Maiden: Now We Come To... (Exalted)

I'll explain the title in time, unless I think of a better one while working on the post. There's a whole line I'd put there but it's long and unwieldy and using the whole thing would be just a bad pick for a title. Here's hoping that if I do change it, I remember to edit this paragraph appropriately.

So without further delay, here comes the jump cut.

Tales of the Moonlight Maiden: Special Guest Stars (Exalted)

And now comes my weekly scrabbling around for something to put above the 'read more' jump break. But no real updates or announcements to make at this time, assuming nothing comes to me by the time I get this finished and posted.

Oh, actually something did come to me -- I slightly tweaked last week's post, as I realized I forgot to do an 'intro caption' for Shichirou. No real revelations there, but just mentioning it.

As a heads-up, as implied by the title, this post has a few guest appearances from some canon characters who aren't gods. Though as I type that, I realize I've been having guest appearances from various gods (and there'll be more in this one) from the start of this story, and haven't made as big of a to-do about it. And now I'm wondering why it's a big deal when canon Exalts show up but not as much when canon gods do. Something to ponder. Either way, recognizing the characters shouldn't be necessary, but it might be a fun thing if you do.

Anywho, let's get into it.

Tales of the Moonlight Maiden: Interview With Something Sort of Like a Vampire (Exalted)

Hey there, my good folks. Look who's back, back again. With, um... okay, I can't think of anything clever to get into here. One of the downsides of putting one of these out almost every week, is that I'm not going to have any interesting personal developments or insights every (or most) weeks. I mean, there's the whole ker-fluffle with D&D, WotC, and the OGL, but I'm pretty sure everything I'd have to say about it has already been said by a dozen other people who are smarter, better-informed, or both. 

For the record, this isn't me being self-deprecating. This is me fully aware that I'm not as neck-deep in the larger industry as I like to think at times, so I see most RPG news from a distance. Especially when it comes to D&D.

But anyhow, now that I've unintentionally satisfied my need for some sort of intro...

Tales of the Moonlight Maiden: Endings and Beginnings (Exalted)

Greetings, folks! Here's hoping you all came out the other side of the holiday season/New Year's/Calibration in good health and spirits! (Well, 'good vibes' spirits, at least. Here's hoping the liquid spirits weren't too excessive.)

Assuming I don't remember something halfway through writing the post and come back to edit it into this paragraph, I don't have anything special to get into before the Exalted write-up, at least not on a personal level.

However, this week we finally get into the tournament action, so lemme take a minute to school you on some system stuff -- first, a quick run-down of Exalted combat for context, and then the special system I've put together for the tournament. I'd put it behind the jump cut but I wanted to keep a firmer division between the commentary and the actual action. Feel free to skip ahead to Shang Tsung if you're not interested in mechanical stuff.

For those of you unfamiliar with Exalted 3e's combat system, there are withering attacks and decisive attacks. Withering attacks are the 'clashing back and forth' attacks you see in fiction, like the couple minutes' of preamble before someone's hand gets lopped off in Star Wars, or much of Westley's and Inigo's sword duel in Princess Bride (or anything with a sword duel, really). Damage dealt by such attacks takes initiative away from the defender and gives it to the attacker (including bonuses from success, so it's not just a zero-sum game), representing a shifting of momentum -- an insignificant wound that damages morale more than the body, or an overextension and loss of positioning, etc. Taking the last of an opponent's initiative represents a major shift in momentum in a fight, with bonuses to the attacker and penalties to the defender, a state called 'initiative crash.' Decisive attacks are the serious blows, that spend that initiative to try and damage the target, hitting their health levels. 

These are an abstraction, of course: in-character, in theory everyone's trying to stab everyone else, but that out-of-character choice is the difference between the attack that merely sends you tripping over your own feet and leaving your opponent an opening and the one that actually draws blood. For example (spoilers for a 35-year old movie), the point where Inigo is beaten in the sword duel and Westley knocks him out is Inigo suffering initiative crash and then their players negotiate the outcome. But Count Rugen stabbing Inigo at the film's climax is a successful decisive attack, as is Inigo killing him after building his initiative back up following his comeback.

(Obviously, there are permutations and complications beyond this, but I'm trying to be brief-ish)

I didn't want the fights to involve taking everyone to near-death until they lose consciousness and then have someone heal them with magic, so I set the OOC 'victory condition' for a match to be initiative crash (representing best of three falls, submission, or judge's decision). But this has the problems of the likelihood of someone being taken out on their first turn. Also, a lot of martial arts only do their most interesting stuff with decisive attacks, and while I could allow for a 'first blood' system, I've seen how damage rolls and I've seen my players' characters deal a lethal blow to someone who's full on health with a lucky roll.

To resolve this, I've given each character a number of points called Fortitude that gets worn down, a number of points' worth of damage that 'protects' a character's last point of Initiative. It's worn down normally by withering attacks, and decisive attacks do damage directly to it (and in addition, deal extra damage the same way they do to battle groups). So once it runs out, then a character can be properly initiative crashed and that'll finish the fight one way or another. So in other words, I've given everyone kind of a health bar. I also use it as a mild balancing thing -- the lower 'tier' a given character is, the more Fortitude they get, so the characters can't as easily steamroll, say, Dragon-Bloods.

But after way too much preamble...

...the tournament is upon us!