The subject says it all. I have no difficulty developing dislike for any of the other factions (except the Dragons) but really, what does the Lodge do (comparatively) that makes them "bad guys".
Jonathan
it seems way easier to hate them if you have no idea of the secret war, but some idea of the lodge. these guys are the MAN. they keep the poor poor and the rich rich. they screwed-over africa and malaysia and the midwestern farmer. serve them some humble pie!
Why hate the Lodge?
Because you're worthless. It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter how strong you are or how clever or how well you serve them. You will never be in their club, and they will always think you're inferior.
They hold the reigns of the world for their own private amusement and comfort. They want to win the secret war so they can carry on treating everyone else in the worlds as pawns in their own internal schemes.
They control the governments, yes, but they also control the organised crime cartels and terrorist organisations. Says there's some new, incredible medical breakthrough- they'll keep it for themselves if they think there's a slightest chance it will underine their power base.
This thread's topic is actually based on a fairly astute observation about the difference between the Lodge and the other factions. Most of the factions have some kind of on-the-face-of-it evil built into the nature of their powers, but the Ascended are repugnant based on their outlook and aims, rather than on the way their powers work.
Well, some reasons:
Like Queex said, they control crime and government, society up and down. They have the power to create a better world ... and yet poverty, slavery, crime and war are rising again. Why?
They are responsible for the Buro. At some time between 1996 and 2025 they will loose control over their chi-net, over their organisations. This will lead to the rise of Boatman and Boneengel ... and the most brutal and destructive tyranny mankind had ever to endure.
If you are a magic using being you have enough reason to hate them.
Other than that? They are not more evil or good than the average human. Good sides, bad sides. At least they allow some kind of freedom within their chi-net.
SYL
Because the Ascended do not care about anything except that power. They do not care what they have to do or who they have to hurt in order to carry out their agendas, no matter how reprehensible it may be. That's why my Killer, Chen Shing, despises them.
Or if you have a magic-using being as a friend or mentor, or are otherwise on good terms with them.
[color=darkblue]The Ascended are the ones who came up with the law against removing the little tag from a bed mattress that doesn't belong to you. What kind of mentality would come up with such a law? Only the most unrepentantly self-serving kind, that's what! Who knows what part this seemingly ridiculous regulation plays in their Machiavellian schemes?
In addition, I would like to mention this little snippet from Architects of the Flesh:
In short, you should hate the Ascended because they hate you. They hate the wild card the Dragons represent, to the point that they exerted an almost outrageous amount of force to shut down the previous generation of Dragons. Assuming most of your characters are from the modern Juncture, the Ascended will begin to mark them as soon as they start walking around and calling themselves Dragons.
As a GM, I've had the Ascended manipulating and using the PCs against other factions for awhile now, but they've outlived their usefulness, and thus they're now on the run, having been framed for murder.