[schapplm]

Dumb question perhaps, but it's there an easy way to change the play count without it being reverted?

Install the Metadata Editor add-on and change the playcount... https://kodi.tv/addon/scripts/metadata-editor 

Changing the metadata in Kodi will not always help, if you use this addon for synchronizing. There are some logical checks to determine if the information from the Kodi database is newer than the WatchedList database or otherwise. If you want to set the playcount to 0, then it is easiest with the option follow user changes and then set the item to unseen from within Kodi.
In other cases, you have to set the "lastwatched" in Kodi to something newer than "lastChange" in the addon database.