I’m going to be running this in about six months when our CoCT campaign is over and for Reasons i’d like to set this in 4709. Are there any major issues with the Golarion timeline that will be created?
The most obvious one I can think of is that Abrogail II will have just come into power, but that strikes me as a feature, not a bug, especially since I’d rather not have the Glorious Reclamation be a thing.
I mean, the reason that it's important for the two "Hell's APs" to take place at the same time is "so that Cheliax is preoccupied and cannot bring their full attention to bear on Ravounel". If you want to justify this via "Abrogail Thrune is busy fighting the Chelish civil war" then that works.
But a few things to consider:
1) How is it that Barzillai gets put in charge of Kintargo? If he's just some zealot cousin of one of the sides of the civil war, he doesn't have a lot of pull.
2) Why would Ravounel seceding from Cheliax in the early part of the civil war have played out so differently from Molthune seceding in the later part of the war? In Hell's Rebels, Ravounel has to take steps to ensure that Cheliax doesn't just send in troops, but Molthune just says "we're our own country" after realizing that Cheliax is busy.
3) Why is it important for Ravounel to become independent instead of just throwing their support behind the anti-Thrune faction?
I mean, the reason that it's important for the two "Hell's APs" to take place at the same time is "so that Cheliax is preoccupied and cannot bring their full attention to bear on Ravounel". If you want to justify this via "Abrogail Thrune is busy fighting the Chelish civil war" then that works.
But a few things to consider:
1) How is it that Barzillai gets put in charge of Kintargo? If he's just some zealot cousin of one of the sides of the civil war, he doesn't have a lot of pull.2) Why would Ravounel seceding from Cheliax in the early part of the civil war have played out so differently from Molthune seceding in the later part of the war? In Hell's Rebels, Ravounel has to take steps to ensure that Cheliax doesn't just send in troops, but Molthune just says "we're our own country" after realizing that Cheliax is busy.
3) Why is it important for Ravounel to become independent instead of just throwing their support behind the anti-Thrune faction?
Unless I’m totally crazy (possible!) I think that you are misreading my 4709 for 4609? 4609 plants it right after the Aroden fall, which is definitely not the period that I’m talking about. I don’t have the books in front of me but I think Molthune gained independence around 4630 so I think there’s a miscommunication here :)
Unless I’m totally crazy (possible!) I think that you are misreading my 4709 for 4609? 4609 plants it right after the Aroden fall, which is definitely not the period that I’m talking about. I don’t have the books in front of me but I think Molthune gained independence around 4630 so I think there’s a miscommunication here :)I mean, the reason that it's important for the two "Hell's APs" to take place at the same time is "so that Cheliax is preoccupied and cannot bring their full attention to bear on Ravounel". If you want to justify this via "Abrogail Thrune is busy fighting the Chelish civil war" then that works.
But a few things to consider:
1) How is it that Barzillai gets put in charge of Kintargo? If he's just some zealot cousin of one of the sides of the civil war, he doesn't have a lot of pull.2) Why would Ravounel seceding from Cheliax in the early part of the civil war have played out so differently from Molthune seceding in the later part of the war? In Hell's Rebels, Ravounel has to take steps to ensure that Cheliax doesn't just send in troops, but Molthune just says "we're our own country" after realizing that Cheliax is busy.
3) Why is it important for Ravounel to become independent instead of just throwing their support behind the anti-Thrune faction?
You're right that that would have been a misunderstanding. You're only going back 6 years, not 106.
At a glance, the biggest first question is are you planning on tying this adventure in with any other APs or stories? If so, then there's a possibility of some issues, but that would be on a more case by case basis and would be a much more involved response. That said, I can't immediately think of anything in CotCT specifically that would cause such a problem, so if that's the only tie in, you're probably fine.
Otherwise, most of the timeline works provided you push back more recent events in Kintargo (anything less than 10 years or so) back by the same amount, and even that's fairly minor. Everything else can pretty much stay where it is chronologically speaking, as very few things happened recently enough to warrant specific year-keeping. Just be wary of any PCs playing characters old enough to remember the time of the Civil War.
PossibleCabbage's comment about the Glorious Reclamation is the big missing piece, and I think their coverage of the issues (century off notwithstanding) is pretty thorough. If the Glorious Reclamation isn't causing unrest in Cheliax, what is? However, I think you already had a good answer for that in the form of Abrogail's recent ascension. That in turn does justify why Barzillai would be there.
Tl;dr Nah you're probably fine, as long as you don't try to link it to any other APs.
[Major spoilers]
There's no issues with the timeline as such if you just move it a couple of years. Pathfinder 2nd ed assumes the AP happened at a certain time, but that doesn't seem to matter much either, as long as you keep it in mind for future APs that might touch the region.
However, you will need to explain why Cheliax - as soon as the queen learns the PCs murdered her appointed Lord Mayor (and her cousin to boot) - does not just send the fleet to Kintargo (assuming the PCs stopped the Menador route) and just level the place. Like they did to Pezzack.
If you don't plan to play further than book four that won't be as much of a problem, since Barzillai has reasons to play things close to the vest and might whitewash the goings-on in his duchy to the queen. But after he's killed there's no reason for Abrogail II to not stomp down hard and crush the rebellion before it spreads even further. In the AP she can't, because when Barzillai is offed a major city close to her capital is occupied by paladins and even nastier critters (nasty from a Thrune perspective, that is).
In the same vein, if you don't use the looming threat of Chelish retribution and regaining of control, there's no incentive for the players to deal with the Kintargo contract and most of book five. You would then have to skip book most of five and go directly into book six.
Or you could invent another national crisis on the same level as the Glorious Reclamation to explain why Cheliax doesn't hit back and give a sense of urgency and momentum. But that seems like extra work for no benefit since there's already a reason given in the AP.