In the living room, a D&D party clashes with a vampire cult. In the garage, a superhero team stops an alien invasion. In the dining room? A mad scientist is fighting his way through a multiversal food court.
Welcome to Saturday Night Gaming (SNG) – a rotating ensemble of storytellers, roleplayers, and worldbuilders who’ve been meeting in Memphis almost every Saturday for years. What started as a casual game night has become something much bigger: a collaborative creative engine churning out epic narratives across multiple genres and systems.
At the heart of it all is Heavenscape, SNG’s original universe – a sprawling, interconnected setting where fantasy, science fiction, horror, and superhero tales coexist. Built over dozens of campaigns, it’s a place where stories live, evolve, and echo across time and space.
I joined the group in 2019. What I found wasn’t just a bunch of players rolling dice – it was a storytelling family, a creative community, and a shared world I now get to be a part of.
The Origins of a Creative Family
The SNG story begins with Scott Hibbard, a lifelong gamer who got hooked on tabletop RPGs at 14 before ever playing a session. “We spent the whole night just making characters,” he told me, “and I was obsessed. I wanted to learn everything about the rules and how it all worked.”
The group that would eventually become SNG started small – just a handful of friends playing D&D and World of Darkness. Like most gaming groups, people came and went, but the core idea stayed alive. Eventually, the group shifted to Saturday nights and began to grow – sometimes ballooning to nearly 20 players. Even today, SNG remains fluid. New players are always welcome, and the energy of the group adapts to whoever’s around the table.
As Sean Halldorson puts it:
“We don’t care about your background, politics, or religion. Everyone’s welcome. If you stick around long enough, you become family.”
Scott says:
“People have come and gone, but the heart of the group has stayed the same.”
That heart beats strongest when the room is full of stories. And as it turns out, there were too many stories – too many players – for just one campaign to contain.
That’s when everything changed.
Building Heavenscape
The birth of Heavenscape was less a big bang and more a creative collision.
“I had just gotten back into gaming after spinal surgery. At first, I was just a player doing voices and running Marvel-themed homage games. But I remember turning to Scott and saying, ‘If we want to build something lasting, it’s got to be original.’”
Scott was already thinking the same thing. Together, with input from players like Sean, they began building a shared universe – one where separate campaigns could exist side-by-side, with crossover events, recurring characters, and evolving mythologies.
Heavenscape was born out of the realization that this group wasn’t just playing stories – they were creating a world.
The first campaigns were an ambitious trilogy: Sean’s Heashlands, Scott’s Gloom (set in She’ol, or Hell), and Tony’s Dawn of the Darkstar, set on the planet Valos. Each campaign contributed to a larger tapestry, introducing gods, worlds, and a sense of multiversal scale.
Since then, the universe has expanded dramatically, including cyberpunk metropolises, elemental kingdoms, demon-ruled realms, and a superhero-themed alternate Earth called Terra Prime.
Collaboration as Foundation
What truly sets Saturday Night Gaming apart isn’t just the depth of its stories – it’s the spirit of collaboration behind every campaign. At the center of it all is the Council of Creation, a core creative team helmed by Scott and Tony, who have shaped the lore, structure, and long-term vision of Heavenscape from the beginning. Their dynamic is the engine of the universe – Scott, a master of mechanics and structure; Tony, a natural storyteller with a knack for bold, character-driven arcs. Together, they’ve built a universe that feels cohesive, expansive, and endlessly adaptable.
Supporting them are contributors like Dan Stephens, Ronnie Shenks, and Jessica Bettini, each offering ideas, characters, and feedback that help flesh out the worlds and keep things moving forward. Jessica officially joined the Council of Creation in 2019, bringing with her a background in English and professional editing, which has made her an asset in refining Heavenscape’s mechanics and written lore. While Scott and Tony drive the foundation of the universe, voices like Jessica’s help bring polish and cohesion to the growing canon.
But the contributions don’t stop there. Over the years, several other players have helped shape the Heavenscape mythos in significant ways. John Mclay has created iconic characters like Four-2, a synthetic messiah who helped save the multiverse. Quinn Beard and Laura Wagner have brought consistent worldbuilding and memorable characters to campaigns across multiple genres. Kaysie Shenks and many others have helped develop factions, mechanics, and emotional story beats that ripple across different worlds.
Every campaign begins with a Session Zero, where players collaborate to build characters and establish personal ties to the world. Game Masters introduce lore and threats, but rarely dictate outcomes.
Scott explains:
“The magic comes from the players. They take the story places no GM could ever plan for.”
In Heavenscape, nothing is static. Worlds shift, new mechanics are tested live at the table, and characters from old campaigns reappear generations later in new forms. It’s an evolving universe shaped not just by the hands behind the screen, but by everyone who rolls the dice.
Laughter, Drama, and Legacy Characters
Ask anyone in Saturday Night Gaming, and they’ll tell you: the dice may drive the action, but it’s the players who bring the chaos. Over the years, the group has built a catalog of unforgettable twists, devastating betrayals, and laugh-until-you-cry moments that live on in legend.
Dan Stephens remembers the time his death cleric squared off mid-session against a Hellfire-breathing paladin.
Dan said:
“He declared he could kill me. I had prepped Power Word: Kill. I saw my moment and just said, ‘Die.’ Took him out first.”
Chuck Knight, one of our most unpredictable players, once played a cyborg-soldier rebuilt by my inventor character early in a campaign. What he didn’t know was that I had secretly installed a hidden override in his cybernetic hand. Dozens of sessions later, when his character turned on mine, I triggered it – forcing him to start choking himself in the middle of battle. The table erupted.
Tony said:
“That level of payoff and surprise was incredible. It’s one of my favorite moments at the table.”
Characters in SNG don’t just end with a campaign – they evolve. Ronnie’s Dr. Stein, originally a mad scientist in a fantasy-western game, became a multiversal threat who still reappears in new arcs. Sean Halldorson’s self-duplicating mercenary once destroyed a superhero team’s watchtower while trying to sneak someone out unnoticed. Whoops.
And then there’s Magni Agnar, my bath-loving, high-maintenance paladin with a giant sword imbued with the soul of his ex-girlfriend. Or Noll Joesteen, the fire-worshiping preacher whose funeral eulogy devolved into a hot-dog-themed sermon with Jessica exclaiming “Don’t talk about the aroma!” as we all burst into laughter.
Every table has its rules – and many like ours have callbacks, inside jokes, and character arcs that span years. Whether it’s tragedy, comedy, or somewhere beautifully in between, those are the moments we keep coming back for.
Growing (and Sharing) a World
With each campaign, Heavenscape grows. New mechanics are tested, stories get deeper, and player choices shape the canon.
Tony says:
“The players aren’t just part of the story. They are the story.”
The podcast brings those stories to a wider audience, with new arcs in development, tighter editing, and sharper writing every season. The superhero-focused Terra Prime setting is next in line. There is also a Quickstart guide and crowdfunding campaign in the works. A Heavenscape player’s guide and character sheet templates are even available for others who want to play in the Heavenscape universe.
And while Heavenscape is the flagship, SNG doesn’t stop there. One week might feature a custom Star Wars campaign. Another could be a Skyrim-inspired sandbox. Sometimes, it’s a ridiculous pop culture clash – like Paul Blart being double-possessed by the Ghost Rider and Ron Burgundy. (That really happened.)
Looking Forward
What makes Saturday Night Gaming special isn’t just the quality of the games – it’s the chemistry, the trust, and the sense of shared ownership over something bigger than any one session.
For many of us, SNG has been a source of creativity, friendship, and even healing. We’ve laughed, cried, rebooted the universe, and built worlds that feel as real to us as anything in print. The table may change, the campaigns may end, but the story continues.
And for those just discovering this world? There’s always room for more at the table.
Join the Adventure
- Listen to the podcast on your favorite platform and follow Saturday Night Gaming on Facebook and Instagram.
- Explore the world of SNG at www.saturdaynightgamingllc.com. There, you’ll also find everything you need to run your own Heavenscape campaign. Who knows? Your story might be the next one we tell.
Ryan Ladner is the CEO of Thrill Comics and creator of the comic book Memphis vs. Zombies. He lives in Memphis with his wife, Maya, and their family. Visit www.thrillcomics.com to learn more about Thrill Comics.
