Crossover advice sought.

[Claws and Effect]

Hi all. 

 

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a Warhammer 40k/Dresden Files crossover for a while now. Obviously I can't post it here, but I was hoping I could get some advice on a couple things related to the 40k side of it (I have the Dresden side down, I've read and analyzed everything Harry Dresden appears in, including a good deal of other fanfiction). 

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the time or money to read every piece of lore for the 40k setting. I have a good handle on the basics, but I'm a little sketchy on some of the specifics. 

 

1) In the established lore, the Warp is everywhere, correct? Meaning you could access the Warp directly from Terra if you had the means to do so? This is fairly important for a core concept of my crossover. If you are a Dresden fan, you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this. 

 

2) Has it been established that the Chaos Gods existed in the 3rd Millennium (present day)? 

 

3) How necessary, exactly, are the rituals in the functioning of technology in the Imperium? Will it fail to work at all, or will the machine spirit just be annoyed? Again, Dresden fans have probably guessed why I'm asking. 

 

The last one is more of a subjective question. 

 

4) Would a Primarch be too powerful of an ally for Dresden?  There are things in the Dresdenverse that can take a Primarch down, but I'm concerned that including one would be too cheesy. I kind of wanted to explore an out of the box idea of where one of the currently missing Primarchs ended up. Namely, Corax. Given that he was last seen heading toward the Eye of Terror, it opens up the possibility of time travel shenanigans. I still need to read everything Corax appears in to get a handle on his personality. 

 

The plot is still nebulous at this point, so I'm doing some research beforehand so people don't read it and go "That's not how it works!". 

 

The story itself is totally fabricated, but I'm trying to respect the established canon of both franchises as much as possible. I want to put a 40k character in Dresden's world, and later on bring Dresden to 40k. Exactly how I'm going to do that I haven't quite figured out yet. 

 

Once I start writing it, it will be posted on fanfiction.net. Once I think of a title I'll share it so you can read it if you like. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited September 11, 2017 by Claws and Effect

[Olis]

1) In the established lore, the Warp is everywhere, correct? Meaning you could access the Warp directly from Terra if you had the means to do so? This is fairly important for a core concept of my crossover. If you are a Dresden fan, you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this.

It is everywhere, correct. You can access the warp from most places, though I know that exiting near a celestial object in a ship (planet, moon, star, whatever) will basically cause said ship to tear itself apart from gravitational stress. Hence translation points on the edges of solar systems. I don't think entering the warp near a planet is a terribly great idea, though, unless under highly controlled circumstances, such as a portal of some kind (like temporary ones that Chaos likes to use or a more permanent one like the one on Molech). 

 

(For the record I have never seen the Dresden Files. I think my brother likes it, though.)

 

2) Has it been established that the Chaos Gods existed in the 3rd Millennium (present day)?

 

In the older lore, all but Slaanesh exist in the third millennium. In fact, they had existed for a fair while and, let's try not to be too proud of this one, all three were created in response to Humanity's actions, trials and tribulations. Go us. 

 

3) How necessary, exactly, are the rituals in the functioning of technology in the Imperium? Will it fail to work at all, or will the machine spirit just be annoyed? Again, Dresden fans have probably guessed why I'm asking.

 

Appeasing machine spirits is one thing (not angering them is generally considered a good move), but most rituals and ceremonies are acts of individuals who have learned things by rote and only do it because they were told that that was the way to do it. The fact that it works is indicative that the ritual is correct, to a degree. It's not really a matter of creatively diagnosing and working to find a solution - if there is a relevant ritual then it should apply. If there is not, then one needs to be, quite literally, found (searching data vaults can be pretty dangerous adventures).

 

The last one is more of a subjective question. 

 

4) Would a Primarch be too powerful of an ally for Dresden?  There are things in the Dresdenverse that can take a Primarch down, but I'm concerned that including one would be too cheesy. I kind of wanted to explore an out of the box idea of where one of the currently missing Primarchs ended up. Namely, Corax. Given that he was last seen heading toward the Eye of Terror, it opens up the possibility of time travel shenanigans. I still need to read everything Corax appears in to get a handle on his personality. 

 

Personally, my answer would be yes. Far too powerful, given the near unique nature and temperaments of the primarchs. It would be more interesting to field a legionnaire or a battle brother, in my mind. That said, your story, your decision. You know more than I do of the other universe you're using.

[Trevak Dal]

Humanity generating ALL of the chaos gods has to be old fluff like the half eldar Former Dark Angel Astropath now Ultramarine Chief Librarian.

 

Humanity hasn't been around for more than 60,000 years, to the Eldar, orks and countless other civilizations, we were the Tau before the Tau existed. Other races fought, died from disease and backstabbed eachother long before a ape cracked another over the head with a rock.

 

Then again, I'm somewhat held up by practicality that I carve off any horns from my chaos marines (potential handholds or obstructions for the marines entering doorways on ships.)

[Claws and Effect]

I don't particularly care how and when the Chaos Gods were created. Just whether they would have existed in our own present day.

 

My story won't be touching on their creation.

[Guest Mordray]

I don't particularly care how and when the Chaos Gods were created. Just whether they would have existed in our own present day.

 

My story won't be touching on their creation.

Due to the peculiarities of the warp the chaos gods both have and haven't always existed.

 

Slaanesh is a perfect example of this. Slaanesh isn't 'born' until (big IIRC...) just before 30k and the rise of the Emperor. Yet was always known and can be found referenced in old works by races that hadn't existed since well before 'his' birth. The metaphysical properties of the warp allow for this paradox.