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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jelmore" data-source="post: 4220994" data-attributes="member: 56412">"Ushering in a new age" is somewhat ambiguous: historians tend to decide when an "age" begins and ends, and the founding events of an "age" are often not felt until long afterwards.I'm reminded of something that Jim Starlin once said about writing for various "cosmic"/"epic" storylines he produced for Marvel Comics (I believe the article was discussing the original Infinity Gauntlet miniseries and its sequels). I wish I could find the actual quote, but it was something to the effect of "all good epics are, at the core, personal stories."What makes an epic is the scope of the events that surround characters whose motivations are familiar. In The Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos -- a madman obsessed with winning the favor of (the personification of) Death -- knows that Death will never accept him as an equal so long as he is mortal. He begins a lifelong quest to obtain ultimate power, culminating in the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet. Triumphant, he summons Death to him only to find that Death no longer regards him as inferior, but instead as Death's sovereign: Death will do whatever Thanos asks, but out of obedience, not out of love. Thanos is defeated by the surviving heroes of the universe, and the Gauntlet is destroyed. (It is theorized that Thanos' self-hatred keeps him from succeeding in his schemes, because deep down he is convinced he doesn't deserve ultimate power.)We can break out some common themes, and mix them up by combining them or attributing an interesting motivation. (This is good practice for fleshing out archvillains, too.)1a) Attaining godhood or sainthood1b) Slaying one or more gods1c) Achieving literal immortality2a) Founding a notable bloodline2b) Destroying a notable bloodline3a) Founding a new nation3b) Starting a massive social or political evolution3c) Destroying an existing nation4a) Genocide4b) Change or evolution of an existing race4c) Creating a new race5a) Discovery of a new land/continent/world/plane of existence5b) Creation of a new land/continent/world/plane of existence5c) Destruction of a land/continent/world/plane of existence6a) Starting a war6b) Ending a war7a) Creation of a group or organization 7b) Eradication of a group or organization8a) Creation of a new technology or form of magic8b) Destruction of a existing technology or form of magicSo you can have a ranger whose wanderlust leads him to destroy the Parliament of Whispers, a centuries-long conspiracy devoted to preventing the rediscovery of the legendary homeland of the elves. Or an wizard whose obsession with the properties of a strange mineral found near a planar rift leads to the invention of runic portals which allow for easy and accurate teleportation from city to city or continent to continent; they are known "Symmari portals" for their inventor.For villains, you can have an evil cleric driven by his faith in his god's teachings to become the Saint of Slaughter and uniting his brethren in a (un)holy war against the Shining Kingdom. Or a warlord, fearing a prophecy that foretells his death at the hands of "the stonekin", who initiates a purge to eliminate the dwarven race.</blockquote>

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