Tips on setting a noble/epic mood for my campaign?

[TheCorsairMalac]

People play D&D because they want to be something extraordinary for a little while. Lately I don't feel like my campaign and quests have lived up to that. As a dungeon master, what can I do to make my players feel more like they are important or special?

[Red Fel]

People play D&D because they want to be something extraordinary for a little while. Lately I don't feel like my campaign and quests have lived up to that. As a dungeon master, what can I do to make my players feel more like they are important or special?

Let's be clear on what you're actually asking, if you please. Are you asking how to make your players' characters seem important or special in the world of the game, or how to make them seem important or special in the eyes of the players? Because those are two different courses of action.

To make a PC important or special on the world stage, set him up against epic threats, and when he wins, have him celebrated by the people. There's a bit more nuance than that, but that's the basic method - over-the-top challenges followed by global recognition and awe.

To make a PC important or special in the eyes of the players, however, is trickier, and - in my opinion - more rewarding. It generally involves working the PC's backstory into the metaplot of the world, and giving each PC the opportunity to - occasionally, and for a few brief, shining moments - become the axis around which the world seems to turn. There are few things more gratifying to a player than realizing that his PC, and only his PC, because that PC is who he is, has the unique tools and inclination to overcome a unique challenge. And there are few things more gratifying to a DM than the feeling you get when every single player walks away from a session feeling like he was the star.

[Doorhandle]

I'd also advise a sense of continuity. Mythology and "just-so" stories are good things here: have every victory have some effect on the world. The body of that huge draogn beocme a monument for generations to come. The crater in the shape of your fist you made in that wall outlives you. Or maybe you fumble so hard you make a sword tree. But I think that's not what you're aiming for here.