A historical fantasy campaign in D&D 5.5e, set in York, Upper Canada, in 1837 — real streets, real trades, real people, with something older running underneath.
The surface of this world is researched. The distillery is real. The fort is real. The house at Benares is real, and so is the officer who bought it. What we have added sits carefully on top of that record, and mostly out of sight.
Why 1837
Setting the campaign in 1837 lines up Captain Harris’s purchase of Benares, the opening of the Gooderham & Worts distillery, and a mature, established York and Fort York, all in the same year. That single year gives us a thriving, growing town, real industry just getting started, and a war-tested fort — a rich backdrop without needing to bend the timeline.
Rebellion-year unrest simmers quietly in the background. It is texture, not plot.