What's a House?
A House represents your character's blood relations, their status in the Empire, and their resources. They represent the 3rd layer of political life: 1st Clan, then Family, then House. Houses have their own agendas distinct from those of their neighboring houses, and at times distinct from those of their Daimyo.

Creating a House [With thanks to ASOIAF Roleplay]
Step One: Choose your Clan and Family.
Step Two: Starting Resources
There are 7 resources: Defense, Influence, Lands, Law, Population, Power, and Wealth.
Roll 7d6 for each resource, then add modifiers based on clan/territory based on the following spreadsheet:

Link to the spreadsheet here


At this point, you may roll 1d6 and add it to a resource of your choice. If another player chooses to play a character from your house, they may also roll 1d6 and add it to a resource of their choice. No one resource can receive more than 2 such bonuses.

Step Three:
The next step is to determine your house’s history, which is done by choosing or rolling for your First Founding. N.B.: If you want your house to be a cadet branch or offshoot of another house, simply understand that when reading the word “elevated” in the event descriptions, in your case it means “derived” or “split from the main house.”
1: Ancient—Your family was among the early ningen tribes before the Fall of the Kami. [1d6+3 events]
2: Very Old—Your family was elevated to samurai status by your clan’s Kami at or near the founding of the Empire. [1d6+2]
3: Old—Your family dates from after the disappearance of Lord Hida and the (seemingly) final end of the direct influence of the Kami on the affairs of ningen. [1d6+1]
4: Established—Your family joined one of the established clans or is a cadet branch of an older family that formed during the later reign of Hantei Genji or that of Hantei Bosai. [1d6]
5: Recent—Your family was established during the Gozoku era [1d6-1]
6: New—Your family was established when you were granted lands or positions gained or lost by others during the upheavals of the end of the Gozoku or the gaijin crisis, or perhaps during the stable, if oppressive, reign of Hantei Retsuhime. [1d6-2]

The Event Table is linked here

Step Four: Holdings
For each Resource, find the goodies that your house receives linked here (these are just posted below, so you could also scroll, if you wish).
Defense, Influence, Lands, Law, Population, Power, Wealth

Step Five: Come Up with a Surname.
I have been cribbing heavily from cast lists of Japanese cinema and the Japanese Government. You may, of course, choose any surname you like. Just check against your clan in the Other Houses, Other Clans thread to make sure you're not doubling up within a clan. Doubling up with a different clan is fine. We can get our heads around that, because most people are going to be referring to you by your Family name anyway.

Example
Because this is new (and fun!, I hope), I made an example House that walks through the creation. It is the last post in this thread, but I linked it here for your convenience. You can also find more example houses in the Other Houses, Other Clans thread in the almanac.

Step Six: Find out where your house is.
Consult this link to find a readable version of the Windrise Hexmap of Rokugan. Please zoom in and select a hex where your house resides. Be sure to include the number of the hex with your character submission (prominently located), or we will have to bother you with tiresome questions. Thanks!

When character submission time has ended, this link (and the link in the Map forum) will be updated with a new version of the map with your house stamped on it. Won't that be cool?

Your Defense resource stat is a bank of points that can be spent on defensive holdings. You can spend your Defense resources thusly:
To have defense holdings, you must have at least one land holding.

Superior Castle (50): A fortress of incredible size or that approaches the impregnable. Kyuden Hida, and Shiro Hiruma among the Crab, Shiro Mirumoto among the Dragon, Kosaten Shiro among the Crane, Matsu Shiro among the Lion. A superior castle is the last word in defense, and always reflects a unique design.

Castle (40): An impressive fortified stronghold, but not as large or imposing as a superior castle. Most castles incorporate at least one central keep and several towers connected by walls. There may be water involved in the defense, or possibly not. Earthworks are also quite common. Examples include Shiro Daidoji, Shiro Shiba, or Shiro Akodo.

Small Castle (30): A smaller version of the grand shiros, with a single keep and perhaps two towers. Famous examples include Shiro no Meiyo or Shiro no Yojin, but there are many of these structures across the Empire.

Ki (20): A small complex comprised of earthworks, trenches, and other non-masonry structures and designed solely for defense, not for permanent occupation. There are hundreds of these serving as mile castles and border defenses all over the Empire.

Tower (10): A single defensive structure that pokes up into the sky. These are often used to keep an eye out for incursions by enemy forces.

Your influence's primary function is to determine the Influence Rank to which your family is naturally entitled.

The lord or lady of the house has the maximum Influence Rank, while the First-born child would have that Influence-1, the second-born that Influence-2, and the third born that Influence-3, and so on until status 1 is reached. Once the progression hits status 1, all further children have status 1 as well.

NB: This status reflects only the status of blood and the social deference that comes with it. Characters from humble backgrounds can still purchase the Social Position Advantage to have a responsible office, such as clan magistrate or gunso.

Influence Resource Score: Maximum Influence Rank
0-10: Rank 1
11-20: Rank 2
21-30: Rank 3
31-40: Rank 4
41-50: Rank 5
51-60: Rank 6
61-70: Rank 7
71+: Rank 8

As a frame of reference, if your house's influence is:
0: The house’s name has been erased from all records and no one speaks of them. The Chuda.
1-10: A minor landed samurai and his immediate kin.
11-20: A greater landed samurai. Kakita Matabei, perhaps. Or Mirumoto Ichizo’s father.
21-30: A smaller minor house. The Tsume before they took Toshi Ranbo and became a Vassal Family.
31-40: A substantial minor house, possibly a cadet branch of a major Family line. Shiba Tsukune came from a family like this before she was chosen by the Soul of Shiba.
41-50: A Vassal Family or powerful minor house with colorful history. The Hiramori, Kochako, Koritome, or Moshibaru.
51-60: A Family Daimyo or Minor Clan Champion: Gusai Ryoshida, Matsu Aiko
61-70: A Clan Champion, the Emerald Champion, or an Imperial Scion: Otomo Keihime, Hida Gendo, Shiba Higashime

Land Holdings

Land holdings describe the terrain and extent of your holdings. Each land investment is called a domain. Each domain is 1 ri, which is just under 2.5 miles or 4 kilometers. Domains each have two components, features and terrain. A feature is something on the land such as a river, forest, or town. A domain can have as many features as you’d like to invest. A domain without a feature is barren wilderness. Terrain specifically describes the lay of the land. A domain must have a terrain and may only have 1 terrain, even if, technically speaking, it has other terrain features on it. Simply invest the dominant terrain type.

Please refer to the map of Rokugan when designing your domains. Certain clans have better access to certain features than others. The discounts offered here should serve as a general indication of dominant terrain features in broad clan territories. Knowing the specific location of your house’s land could be fun AND important!

Terrain
Hills: 7 Land points. -3 Crane, -3 Scorpion, -3 Dragon. -4 Boar, -4 Sparrow
Mountains: 9 Land points. -2 Crab, -6 Dragon, -2 Phoenix, -2 Scorpion, -4 Badger,
Plains: 3 Land points. -1 Lion, +6 Dragon
Wetlands: 3 Land points -2 Crab, -1 Lion, +4 Dragon

Features
Coast: 3 land points. Badger, Boar, Dragon, Fox, Lion, Scorpion, Sparrow: Not available
Hamlet: 10 land points.
Small Town: 20 land points
Large Town: 30 land points
Small City: 40 land points. Not available to non-Mantis Minor Clans
Large City: 50 land points. Not available to Minor Clans
Grassland: 1 land point.
Island: 10 land points. -7 for Mantis.
Road: 5 land points.
Ruin: 9 land points.
Stream: 1 land point.
River: 3 land points.
Pond: 5 land points.
Lake: 7 land points.
Light Woods: 3 land points. -1 Phoenix
Dense Woods: 5 land points. -1 Phoenix, -2 Fox

0: Lawless, uncivilized lands. You have no authority here. The Shinomen, the Yobanjin territories.
1-10: Bandits, raiders, and other uncivilized types are running about in your territories, making a nuisance of themselves.
11-20: Lawlessness and banditry are an issue along the fringes of your territory.
21-30: The typical level of Law in Rokugan. Crime may happen, but it is almost never seen to be happening without a swift return to order.
31-40: You exert a great deal of control in your lands, and crime is uncommon.
41-50: Such is your devotion to order that crime is rare.
51-60: You have almost no crime at all in your lands.
61-70: There is no crime at all in your lands.


Unlike other resources, Law does not provide holdings. Instead, the relative stability or instability of your provinces will affect the House Fortunes roll you make to cover the events of downtime. Please consult the following chart:

Law Score: House Fortunes Modifier
0: -20
1-10: -10
11-20: -5
21-30: -2
31-40: -1
41-50: +0
51-60: +1
61-70: +2
71+: +5

0: No one lives under your rule.
1-10: Thinly populated. Tiny villages are spread across your lands.
11-20: Small population but no community larger than a small town.
21-30: Typical population. Most peasants live in small mura working communal fields, but you might have a couple small towns and a community around your main fortification.
31-40: Modest population. At least one town and several villages.
41-50: Large population. You have a large number of people in your lands; many live in a large town or spread throughout a number of smaller towns.
51-60: Immense Population. Perhaps an entire clan, perhaps just the Matsu family.
61-70: The Empire and Everyone In It

Like law, your Population stat provides a modifier to your House Fortune rolls during downtime.

Population Rank
House Fortunes Modifier
0: -10
1-10: -5
11-20: +0
21-30: +1
31-40: +3
41-50: +1
51-60: +0
61-70: -5
71+: -10

Power Holdings
From power holdings, you derive your house's military might. The retainers of a particular house can, at the discretion of their lord and with the permission of a daimyo, move against the holdings of other houses in matters of honor or for other purposes. Also, house forces might be called into service at the behest of a daimyo should the unlikely event of a Family or Clan war take place, in which case they would become subordinate to the military structure of the Family or Clan.

You can invest power into subordinate houses, ships, or units. You do not have to invest all of your power and can keep some of it in reserve for whatever purposes might arise.

Subordinate Houses cost 20 for the first house, 10 for the second, and 5 for each subordinate house after that.
Subordinate houses are noble families that have sworn vows of service or loyalty to your house in exchange for political, military, and/or financial protection. Solemn oaths and undertakings bind your houses together, and while the Yasuki War has illustrated how those ties can become frayed, it still takes some doing to provoke a samurai to break their word.

When rice is redistributed after taxes, your house receives extra rice to provide to your subordinate houses. In return, your subordinate houses offer their military oomph to your house. However, you are expected to support and protect your subordinate houses even if they are being annoying. Such is life.


Creating subordinate houses
Follow the same procedure as with your house, but observe the following changes:

Clan: the subordinate house must be from the same Clan and Family as you.
Starting Resources: Roll 5 dice instead of seven. Your subordinate house cannot have more Influence than your house.
First Founding: Your subordinate house ought to be at least one stage younger than your house.
House Fortunes: Your subordinate house does not roll for House Fortunes.

Military Units
A unit is comprised of about 100 ashigaru, about 25 samurai, or 5 ships if you're buying ships. A cost for a unit is determined by training and the type of unit in question. You can build a unit like a character using the Experience generated by the Training cost. If a general war should break out, your house's units will fight like characters, sort of like Dynasty Warriors or Total War: 3 Kingdoms, with the Discipline TN being the Tn of the Battle (Mass Battle)/Perception rolls needed to command them. Please observe the following charts to determine the cost of your units.


Training Discipline Experience
Green, Costs 1 pt. Discipline: Challenging (Tn 25). 20 xp.
Trained, Costs 3 pts. Discipline: Routine (Tn 20). 60 xp
Veteran, Costs 5 pts. Discipline: Easy (Tn 10). 100 xp.
Elite, Costs 7 pts. Discipline: Automatic (Tn 0) 140 xp.

Unit Types
Type/Power Cost/Discipline TN Modifier
1. Ashigaru Archers/3 pts./+3 Tn
2. Samurai Archers/5 pts./+1 Tn
3. Cavalry/5 pts./-2 Tn
4. Engineers/4 pts./+0 tn
5. Garrison/2 pts./-3 tn on home turf/+3 tn away
6. Guerillas/2 pts/+3 tn
7. Ashigaru Infantry/4 pts./+1 tn
8. Samurai Infantry/6 pts./-2 tn
9. Ronin Brotherhood/-1 Wealth for Green, -3 Wealth for Trained, -6 Wealth for Veteran, -9 Wealth for Elite/+6 tn
10. Ashigaru Levies/2 Population/+6 tn
11. Personal Guards/6 pts./-6 tn
12. Sailors/4 pts./+0 tn
13. Scouts/2 pts./+3 tn
14. Elite Units [Lion's Pride, a Kenshinzen member, a unit of the Elemental Legions]/15 pts./-10 tn.
15. Shugenja/8 pts. [5 for Phoenix, Not Available to Crane or Lion]/+5 tn
16. Support/2 pts./+3 tn
17. Warships/7pts. [5 for Mantis]/+0 tn

Wealth

Wealth is an abstracted resource that you can spend in deals and so forth. Each point of wealth is the equivalent of 200 Koku's worth of assets. One consideration you should make at this stage is how your family accrues wealth. For most samurai this will be "my family oversees a large number of peasants who grow rice." That's absolutely cool to go with. Other options may exist if you wish, and you are free to explore them.

An Example: House Imagawa of the Doji

Defense: 15 [Some cultivation, presence of a Shiro-level or smaller fortification, with some roads.]
Influence: 35 [A substantial minor house, perhaps a cadet branch of the Family line
Lands: 2 {This sad score negates some of the promises of Defense. Because I like the concept, I'm going with: a single household in a prominent city}
Law: 37 [The Imagawa exert a great deal of control over their territory, and crime is uncommon]
Population: 12 [Small population, primarily of household servants running the estate.]
Power: 20 [A small force made up mostly of ashigaru]
Wealth: 32 [Prosperous, the Imagawa live according to their station]


House Imagawa applied the Northern Crane bonuses
As I am currently the only player in House Imagawa, I rolled a 3 and added it to Wealth


I decided to make the Imagawa Very Old, and I rolled 6 events. This made me nervous, but I was committed. As you will see, I had some good rolls and some really bad ones.


6 events
1: Glory-+3D, +4I, +6Law, +5P
Imagawa was a warrior and a companion of Kakita during the events of the founding of the Empire. He distinguished himself by defeating a recalcitrant chieftain in single combat, winning over his tribe through the display of swordsmanship and skill. As a reward, Lady Doji permitted his descendants to bear his name in addition to her own.

2: Favor--+3I, +5Lan, +5Law, +3P
Imagawa's grandson Himeji was a favorite of Doji Nio during the time following Lady Doji's disappearance. His fascination and scholarship on legal matters allowed him to have great influence over the development of the Doji Magistrates. In the end, he would be one of the sources referred to by Saibankan when the Fortune of Justice was devising the Charter of the Emerald Magistrates. In recognition, he and his house were rewarded with lands.

3: Doom--5D, -5I, -11Lan, -9Law, -8Pop, -12Pow, -12Wealth
The Imagawa were nearly wiped out when their forces were defeated by a Matsu house and their estate (at this time a magnificent house and piece of territory in the western Osari plain), was burned to the ground. Several prominent members of the family were killed in battle or shortly afterwards, and the house became landless when the Matsu refused to return the territory. They were saved only by their close relationship with the main Doji line, which put them up in one of their mansions at Kyuden Doji.

4: Scandal-- -4I, -2Lan, -5 Pow
The Imagawa were incensed by Imperial meddling in internal Crane matters when it was revealed that Hantei Fujiwa provoked the Yasuki War. Doji Retsu of the Imagawa, already a skilled figure in the Imperial Court, became a powerful exponent of the plot to make the Emperor a figurehead. Needless to say, he was executed when the Gozoku were exposed and purged.

5: Madness--+1D, -2 I, -1Lan, -2 Law, -3Pop, +0Pow, +4 Wealth
Lord Retsu's son Atoshi was a financial genius, but suffered from strange habits. He frequently forgot basic human functions like eating and sleeping and spent much of his time in conversation with himself. Toward the end of his short life, he imagined himself an actual waterbird and fed solely on the uncooked diet of true cranes. That his eccentricities did not cost the family even more of their influence was a testimony to how well he understood koku.

6: Favor--+5I, +2 Land, +2 Law, +5 Power
During the last twenty years, Lady Kichime of the Imagawa has distinguished herself by being one of the few Crane courtiers who can command the attention of the Imperials in the courts. Although her family was deeply involved in the Gozoku, there is something about Kichime's brightness and enthusiasm that makes it difficult to hate her specifically. While Retsuhime's ire (and Otomo Keihime's assiduous political activity) could never permit Kichime to attain high office, she remains a powerful support to the Emerald Champion and to the Crane agenda, such as it is. The fortunes of the house have grown as a result. In order to facilitate her work, the Imagawa have been allowed to move to a mansion in Otosan Uchi.

Holdings

Defense Holdings [15 points]
The Imagawa holdings might feature a tower, but because they have no land holdings, they cannot place a defensive fortification.

Influence [35]
Because the Imagawa family has 35 influence, Lady Imagawa has an Influence Rank of 4. Her spouse and her heir would have ranks of 3, the second child a rank of 2, and any further children a rank of 1. We'll find out in the family step how many children she would actually have.

Land Holdings [2]
If the Imagawa were a Lion family, they could afford a barren stretch of plains, probably in the former lands of the Ki-Rin. As it is, they have a household in Otosan Uchi, and nothing beyond its walls.

Law [37]
Because they have such a powerful sway over their miniscule territory, the Imagawa have almost no crime! Still, occasionally something goes missing or a young person gets into trouble. -1 to House Fortunes.

Population [12]
Comprised almost entirely of the servants in their mansion, the Imagawa have a population large enough not to be mocked and small enough not to cause real problems. +0 to House Fortunes.

Power [20]
While strictly speaking the Imagawa could invest all of their power stat into a subordinate house, not having any troops of their own could be a real problem. On one level, I like the idea of them being a house that lives or dies on their words and honor. On another level, I have a feeling that they might have learned from their mistakes in earlier ages.

But what units do they have? Not many at just 20 points, but some. A veteran Personal Guard of hardened Daidoji sounds important for these political dynamos.

Personal Guard 6, Veteran 5=11 points

A garrison might also make sense, but perhaps the second child of the Imagawa fancies himself a warrior, a leader of men? They have trained a unit of Samurai archers to defend the mansion in support of the Personal Guard, should things go belly-up.

Samurai Archers 5, Trained 3=8 points.

I might have splurged on a couple units of ashigaru, but I thought of the location of their estate. There probably aren't many mansions in Otosan Uchi that can comfortably house a couple hundred peasant warriors, so smaller samurai units made more sense.

Wealth [32]
The Imagawa have about 6400 koku in liquid funds. They're doing alright.

Defining the Family

Now it comes time to define the family. At this point, it helps to know which character you mean to play. The process assumes that you are playing one of the head of household's children. However, a person could play the head of household or spouse; they would merely need to go through the process twice: once to find out their extended relations, and then once using the siblings section to determine their children and relationships with them. It may be a good idea to find out those extended relations even if you're playing a member of the younger generation. Uncle Daisuke may become important to your character later, or may provide another player an opportunity to join your family, if they like the idea of them.

It's worth noting that you can also choose any result you prefer, here. I am going to roll for the Imagawa, and then veto results I hate.

While I like Lady Kichime, I find myself intrigued by playing one of her children instead of her directly.

For the first roll (parents), I roll 1d100 for each parent to see if they still live. Obviously, my first roll is moot, because we know Lady Kichime is still in the courts. But my second roll is an 85--Lady Kichime's husband (whom I will name Atsui) is still alive!

Now to define my kid's relationship with their parents: d100s again.
For Lady Kichime I rolled a 41. For Atsui a 61.

It seems that Lady Kichime was able to construct a good childhood for me, but Atsui really wasn't equipped for fatherhood. My character may well have some daddy issues.

Status of Siblings
How many brothers and sisters do I have? I roll a 20-sider and get a 19. My goodness! My character is one of eight children [7 siblings]! Who are all these people?

I roll 7d6 to find out the sex of these siblings of mine, and come out with 4 odd numbers and 3 even numbers: four boys and three girls.

Are they all still around? I rill 7 six-siders again and get the following results: 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 3, 5. This means that 3 of my siblings have died. Perhaps a fever swept through Otosan Uchi and took them all. Or perhaps one of them drowned in a freak storm off of Mura Sabishii Toshi.

Now for the twin-ening. A percentile should be rolled for each of my surviving siblings. Is my character a twin? 9, 68, 43, 69. No twins here.

Now to determine birth order. I have 4 surviving siblings, so I must roll a d5 to determine where I stand in the birth order. Again, I could choose if I wished, but I have no particular desire to be heir, so we'll see where the dice put me. I roll a 2, so I am the second child.

Now to see how my character gets along with their siblings. Time to break out the d12s: 7, 1, 15, 13

I have an argumentative relationship with my eldest sibling. We don't hate each other, but we don't agree on very much. This could be trouble later in life.

I am bitter enemies with the sibling one step younger than I. Perhaps we competed for our father's affection? That sounds like an interesting story. Maybe this sibling is a Sworn Enemy of mine? Possibly. Maybe I'm just jealous.

My other siblings and I are close, but don't have deep, powerful connections. We'll stand up for each other in a scrap, but won't go out of our way to demonstrate our affections.

So the current generation of House Imagawa of the Doji looks like this:
Lady Kichime and Lord-consort Atsui
5 surviving children:
The heir: Doji Akanehime no Imagawa
Me: Doji Mitsu no Imagawa
My bitter enemy: Doji Atsui no Imagawa [He even named himself after dad. Ugh.]
My kid sister: Doji Tadame no Imagawa
My kid brother: Doji Takiyo no Imagawa

Now to see about extended relations. Using Lady Kichime as the focal point, let's go through the process once more.

It would appear from our results of 2 and 94 that Lady Kichime's mother has died and that her father is alive, but most likely retired. She had an excellent relationship (42) with her father but her mother was not ready for children [60].

Now we get to the good stuff: how many siblings does Lady Kichime have. I roll a 1. She is the rare Rokugani only child. Well, that rather puts an end to our experience. Now it's time to get our information all in one spot.

House Imagawa of the Doji Family
An old house, once implicated in conspiracy and madness, now once again a linchpin of the Crane's political fortunes.

Head: Lady Kichime, a Courtier. Influence 4
Consort: Lord Atsui, also a Courtier, Influence 3
Heir: Doji Akanehime, also a Courtier, Influence 3
Other children
Doji Mitsu, a Bushi, Influence 2
Doji Atsui, a Courtier, Influence 1
Doji Tadame, a Bushi, Influence 1
Doji Takiyo, an Artisan, Influence 1

Statistics [Effects and Holdings]
Defense 15 [Nothing]
Influence 35 [Influence Rank 4 maximum]
Land 2 [A household, no actual domain.]
Law 37 [-1 to House Fortunes]
Population 12 [+0 to House Fortunes]
Power 20 [1 unit of Veteran Personal Guard, 1 unit of Trained Samurai Archers]
Wealth 32 [6400 Koku]

Three Mandatory questions:
1) Where is the house located? An estate in a fashionable district of Otosan Uchi.
2) What does my house produce/what makes it valuable? The house produces political functionaries, trades favors, and lends cash.
What does my house need? Personal security. The house is in the safest place in the Empire in one sense. The Lion are unlikely to come a-calling. But Otosan Uchi has dangers all its own, and when the political stakes are raised, they will be very much on the front line. They will need all of the friends and guards they can find.

While I promise you I have no particular stake in the Crane's fortunes in this game, and indeed generated all of the NPC houses for all of the clans, I do have a reputation to uphold. So, for the purposes of this example build I generated a Crane house. Specifically, an super artistic and political Doji house.

First, I rolled 7d6 for my starting resources.

Defense: 21
Influence: 26
Lands: 19
Law: 30
Population: 18
Power: 28
Wealth: 27


Then House Imagawa applied the Northern Crane bonuses, as that's where the cool Cranes live.

I decided to make the Imagawa Very Old (I might have rolled for its age, but did not have to), and I rolled 6 events. This made me nervous, but I was committed. As you will see, I had some good rolls and some really bad ones.


6 events
1: Glory-+3D, +4I, +6Law, +5Pow
Imagawa was a warrior and a companion of Kakita during the events of the founding of the Empire. He distinguished himself by defeating a recalcitrant chieftain in single combat, winning over his tribe through the display of swordsmanship and skill. As a reward, Lady Doji permitted his descendants to bear his name in addition to her own.

2: Favor--+3I, +5Lan, +5Law, +3Pow
Imagawa's grandson Himeji was a favorite of Doji Nio during the time following Lady Doji's disappearance. His fascination and scholarship on legal matters allowed him to have great influence over the development of the Doji Magistrates. In the end, he would be one of the sources referred to by Saibankan when the Fortune of Justice was devising the Charter of the Emerald Magistrates. In recognition, he and his house were rewarded with lands.

3: Doom--5D, -5I, -11Lan, -9Law, -8Pop, -12Pow, -12Wealth
The Imagawa were nearly wiped out when their forces were defeated by a Matsu house and their estate (at this time a magnificent house and piece of territory in the western Osari plain), was burned to the ground. Several prominent members of the family were killed in battle or shortly afterwards, and the house became landless when the Matsu refused to return the territory. They were saved only by their close relationship with the main Doji line, which put them up in one of their mansions at Kyuden Doji.

4: Scandal-- -4I, -2Lan, -5 Pow
The Imagawa were incensed by Imperial meddling in internal Crane matters when it was revealed that Hantei Fujiwa provoked the Yasuki War. Doji Retsu of the Imagawa, already a skilled figure in the Imperial Court, became a powerful exponent of the plot to make the Emperor a figurehead. Needless to say, he was executed when the Gozoku were exposed and purged.

5: Madness--+1D, -2 I, -1Lan, -2 Law, -3Pop, +0Pow, +4 Wealth
Lord Retsu's son Atoshi was a financial genius, but suffered from strange habits. He frequently forgot basic human functions like eating and sleeping and spent much of his time in conversation with himself. Toward the end of his short life, he imagined himself an actual waterbird and fed solely on the uncooked diet of true cranes. That his eccentricities did not cost the family even more of their influence was a testimony to how well he understood koku.

6: Favor--+5I, +2 Land, +2 Law, +5 Power
During the last twenty years, Lady Kichime of the Imagawa has distinguished herself by being one of the few Crane courtiers who can command the attention of the Imperials in the courts. Although her family was deeply involved in the Gozoku, there is something about Kichime's brightness and enthusiasm that makes it difficult to hate her specifically. While Retsuhime's ire (and Otomo Keihime's assiduous political activity) could never permit Kichime to attain high office, she remains a powerful support to the Emerald Champion and to the Crane agenda, such as it is. The fortunes of the house have grown as a result. In order to facilitate her work, the Imagawa have been allowed to move to a mansion in Otosan Uchi.

As I am currently the only player in House Imagawa, I rolled a 3 and added it to Wealth. If other people choose to play members of House Imagawa, they would also roll a 6 sider and add it where they like.


Holdings

Defense Holdings [15 points]
The Imagawa holdings might feature a tower, but because they have no land holdings, they cannot place a defensive fortification.

Influence [35]
Because the Imagawa family has 35 influence, Lady Imagawa has an Influence Rank of 4. Her spouse and her heir would have ranks of 3, the second child a rank of 2, and any further children a rank of 1. We'll find out in the family step how many children she would actually have.

Land Holdings [2]
If the Imagawa were a Lion family, they could afford a barren stretch of plains, probably in the former lands of the Ki-Rin. As it is, they have a household in Otosan Uchi, and nothing beyond its walls.

Law [37]
Because they have such a powerful sway over their miniscule territory, the Imagawa have almost no crime! Still, occasionally something goes missing or a young person gets into trouble. -1 to House Fortunes.

Population [12]
Comprised almost entirely of the servants in their mansion, the Imagawa have a population large enough not to be mocked and small enough not to cause real problems. +0 to House Fortunes.

Power [20]
While strictly speaking the Imagawa could invest all of their power stat into a subordinate house, not having any troops of their own could be a real problem. On one level, I like the idea of them being a house that lives or dies on their words and honor. On another level, I have a feeling that they might have learned from their mistakes in earlier ages.

But what units do they have? Not many at just 20 points, but some. A veteran Personal Guard of hardened Daidoji sounds important for these political dynamos.

Personal Guard 6, Veteran 5=11 points

A garrison might also make sense, but perhaps the second child of the Imagawa fancies himself a warrior, a leader of men? They have trained a unit of Samurai archers to defend the mansion in support of the Personal Guard, should things go belly-up.

Samurai Archers 5, Trained 3=8 points.

I might have splurged on a couple units of ashigaru, but I thought of the location of their estate. There probably aren't many mansions in Otosan Uchi that can comfortably house a couple hundred peasant warriors, so smaller samurai units made more sense.

Wealth [32]
The Imagawa have about 6400 koku in liquid funds. They're doing alright.

Defining the Family

Now it comes time to define the family. At this point, it helps to know which character you mean to play. The process assumes that you are playing one of the head of household's children. However, a person could play the head of household or spouse; they would merely need to go through the process twice: once to find out their extended relations, and then once using the siblings section to determine their children and relationships with them. It may be a good idea to find out those extended relations even if you're playing a member of the younger generation. Uncle Daisuke may become important to your character later, or may provide another player an opportunity to join your family, if they like the idea of them.

It's worth noting that you can also choose any result you prefer, here. I am going to roll for the Imagawa, and then veto results I hate.

While I like Lady Kichime, I find myself intrigued by playing one of her children instead of her directly.

For the first roll (parents), I roll 1d100 for each parent to see if they still live. Obviously, my first roll is moot, because we know Lady Kichime is still in the courts. But my second roll is an 85--Lady Kichime's husband (whom I will name Atsui) is still alive!

Now to define my kid's relationship with their parents: d100s again.
For Lady Kichime I rolled a 41. For Atsui a 61.

It seems that Lady Kichime was able to construct a good childhood for me, but Atsui really wasn't equipped for fatherhood. My character may well have some daddy issues.

Status of Siblings
How many brothers and sisters do I have? I roll a 20-sider and get a 19. My goodness! My character is one of eight children [7 siblings]! Who are all these people?

I roll 7d6 to find out the sex of these siblings of mine, and come out with 4 odd numbers and 3 even numbers: four boys and three girls.

Are they all still around? I rill 7 six-siders again and get the following results: 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 3, 5. This means that 3 of my siblings have died. Perhaps a fever swept through Otosan Uchi and took them all. Or perhaps one of them drowned in a freak storm off of Mura Sabishii Toshi.

Now for the twin-ening. A percentile should be rolled for each of my surviving siblings. Is my character a twin? 9, 68, 43, 69. No twins here.

Now to determine birth order. I have 4 surviving siblings, so I must roll a d5 to determine where I stand in the birth order. Again, I could choose if I wished, but I have no particular desire to be heir, so we'll see where the dice put me. I roll a 2, so I am the second child.

Now to see how my character gets along with their siblings. Time to break out the d12s: 7, 1, 15, 13

I have an argumentative relationship with my eldest sibling. We don't hate each other, but we don't agree on very much. This could be trouble later in life.

I am bitter enemies with the sibling one step younger than I. Perhaps we competed for our father's affection? That sounds like an interesting story. Maybe this sibling is a Sworn Enemy of mine? Possibly. Maybe I'm just jealous.

My other siblings and I are close, but don't have deep, powerful connections. We'll stand up for each other in a scrap, but won't go out of our way to demonstrate our affections.

So the current generation of House Imagawa of the Doji looks like this:
Lady Kichime and Lord-consort Atsui
5 surviving children:
The heir: Doji-ke no kashin Imagawa Akanehime
Me: Doji-ke no kashin Imagawa Mitsu
My bitter enemy: Doji-ke no kashin Imagawa Atsui. [He even named himself after dad. Ugh.]
My kid sister: Doji-ke no kashin Imagawa Tadame
My kid brother: Doji-ke no kashin Imagawa Takiyo

Now to see about extended relations. Using Lady Kichime as the focal point, let's go through the process once more.

It would appear from our results of 2 and 94 that Lady Kichime's mother has died and that her father is alive, but most likely retired. She had an excellent relationship (42) with her father but her mother was not ready for children [60].

Now we get to the good stuff: how many siblings does Lady Kichime have. I roll a 1. She is the rare Rokugani only child. Well, that rather puts an end to our experience. Now it's time to get our information all in one spot.

House Imagawa of the Doji Family
An old house, once implicated in conspiracy and madness, now once again a linchpin of the Crane's political fortunes.

Head: Lady Kichime, a Courtier. Influence 4
Consort: Lord Atsui, also a Courtier, Influence 3
Heir: Doji Akanehime, also a Courtier, Influence 3
Other children
Doji Mitsu, a Bushi, Influence 2
Doji Atsui, a Courtier, Influence 1
Doji Tadame, a Bushi, Influence 1
Doji Takiyo, an Artisan, Influence 1

Statistics [Effects and Holdings]
Defense 15 [Nothing]
Influence 35 [Influence Rank 4 maximum]
Land 2 [A household, no actual domain.]
Law 37 [-1 to House Fortunes]
Population 12 [+0 to House Fortunes]
Power 20 [1 unit of Veteran Personal Guard, 1 unit of Trained Samurai Archers]
Wealth 32 [6400 Koku]

Three Mandatory questions:
1) Where is the house located? An estate in a fashionable district of Otosan Uchi.
2) What does my house produce/what makes it valuable? The house produces political functionaries, trades favors, and lends cash.
What does my house need? Personal security. The house is in the safest place in the Empire in one sense. The Lion are unlikely to come a-calling. But Otosan Uchi has dangers all its own, and when the political stakes are raised, they will be very much on the front line. They will need all of the friends and guards they can find.