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I'm slowly prepping to run the anniversary addition of RotR in a few months, when my group finishes up Shattered Star. We're all fairly new to Pathfinder - Jade Regent was our first AP - and we all agreed unanimously that we wanted to go back to where it all started.
Unfortunately, I've run into a bit of a problem with Ameiko. According to her write-up in the back of The Brinewall Legacy, she was born in 4689, became an adventurer in 4706, (which she spent a year at before returning to Sandpoint) and, after "some months," cashed out her earnings and bought the Rusty Dragon.
All well and good, except that that puts a 17 year old Ameiko buying the Rusty Dragon *in* 4707, whereas RotR says she's been the owner for six years as of Burnt Offerings.
I know there are probably a dozen ways to handle this, but I can't decide on what's best. We've so carefully tied our characters into the setting (with lots of cameos between APs) that I don't really have much leeway with my time line. What would you do?
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Did your players celebrate her birthday?
If not then you can just have her elven heritage make her young-looking.
But, to be honest, 16 year-old adventurers are the kind to make stupid mistakes which see their lover die. And buying an inn rather than returning to her father when she is 17 seems to suit teenage pique.
So she is 23 in RotRl... works for me.
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Hehe...actually, yeah - We DID in fact celebrate her birthday during Jade Regent. We needed lots and lots and LOTS of help, since we had very little tabletop experience (I had played a grand total of maybe 8 sessions of 3.5 before I started GMing JR) so the 4 key NPCs of that AP were secondary party members. Going back and seeing "the gang" before the events of Jade Regent was one of the reasons we chose to do RotR next.
And while I agree whole-heartedly that her actions at 16 and 17 make sense, the problem is that the timeline laid out in Jade Regent makes her 23 in 4712, not 4707.
If we go with that, then Ameiko is 17 and has owned the Rusty Dragon for less than a year when we meet her in RotR. How would you reflect that in the way things play out?
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Just adjust her birthyear so it fits your needs. Or adjust when the game starts. The books are suggestions, a guideline and framework for you to build on. If details do not work for your future history then just give them a bump in the right direction.
"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually — from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint — it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff."
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Hehe...actually, yeah - We DID in fact celebrate her birthday during Jade Regent. We needed lots and lots and LOTS of help, since we had very little tabletop experience (I had played a grand total of maybe 8 sessions of 3.5 before I started GMing JR) so the 4 key NPCs of that AP were secondary party members. Going back and seeing "the gang" before the events of Jade Regent was one of the reasons we chose to do RotR next.
And while I agree whole-heartedly that her actions at 16 and 17 make sense, the problem is that the timeline laid out in Jade Regent makes her 23 in 4712, not 4707.
If we go with that, then Ameiko is 17 and has owned the Rusty Dragon for less than a year when we meet her in RotR. How would you reflect that in the way things play out?
Ah, right, well perhaps a lady has a right to bend the truth a little about her age?
My grandmother has been 21 for many, many years. She still is, depite living through WW2.
If that doesn't work then... magic!
Unfortunately, the dates in Rise of the Runelords are a mix of the dates from the original campaign, which was set in 4707, and the Anniversary edition, which assumes a date of 4712.
Trying to tie them together with all of the other Adventure Paths may be chronologically impossible. I assumed that she was born in 4685, went adventuring in 4701 (starting at 16 as an adventurer), returned to Sandpoint in 4702, and Rise of the Runelords took place in 4707. Some fiddling with the months makes it all 'basically' correct (if she took over the inn in early 4702, and has it in late 4707, that's almost 6 years.
That would make her roughly 27 in 4712, depending on when her birthday was during the year, and when you start the campaign in 4712. You could shift the months around and get to be 26, which isn't too far off from 23, really.
If you really have to shift her age because she was firmly established as being 23 in 4712, you'd have to redo the stuff about her in Rise of the Runelords and make her much younger. That's not really too much of a problem for Ameiko herself, as there's nothing that requires her to be a particular age.
The problem is going to be the Late Unpleasantness. If you have the Unpleasantness (which brought her back to town for a funeral) happening just a year before, then it's much, much fresher in people's minds, and a much more raw, recent tragedy. It also isn't too plausible that they got the Cathedral built in a year, and it messes up a lot the other timeline stuff as well.
I'd be much more inclined to retcon her age in 4712 to be 26 rather than 23, as it's a minor change, rather than the wholesale reordering of events that would be required for the other option.
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Thanks for all the help trying to sort this out, guys.
Because of my players and the way Jade Regent went, I honestly believe I'm going to HAVE to make a 17 year old Ameiko work. Otherwise I'll "break the immersion" *insert eyeroll here* and that would be worse than stretching the limits of credulity with other things.
So...that leaves the problem of the Late Unpleasantness.
Would it be too much of a stretch to assume that Ameiko WANTED to leave after her fight with Tsuto and the mess at her mother's funeral, but she couldn't?
In our version of events, Ameiko has a little sister (a JR PC) who was 7 when Atsuii died, and was afterward sent away to an okiya in Magnimar because her father didn't want to fuss with such a young child. If we assume that he then put tremendous pressure on a 12~13 year old Ameiko as his heir - and perhaps even his shot at redemption - would that give her enough motivation to run away at 16?
It would certainly put even MORE strain on the relationships within the Kaijitsu family...their ages at the time of the fight makes Ameiko's seeming desire to reconcile with Tsuto make more sense, and Lonjiku's assumptions of ownership over Ameiko would be stronger because she's an unrepentant prodigal just recently turned back up. What would you do with that dynamic?
And how, do you think, would various townsfolk react to her and the Rusty Dragon, given those changes?
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I think if you can make the rest of the story work, her owning the inn is the least of your worries. Some of the older townsfolk might be a little unsure about the arrangement but she paid good coin for it and hasn't messed it up yet. Also, she's a noble daughter of the town. No matter how messy the family politics I can see the town happy to have an adventurous youth back in town "settling down" into a more stable living. The old ladies are probably playing matchmaker for her incessantly.