Europa 1400: The Guild

- I'd recommend starting the game out on an easier difficultly setting, and starting out as an alchemist. Alchemists can make stamina potions (+2 AP once a round), and since they can gather and grow materials, they aren't dependent on materials appearing in the market, you can just have an apprentice gather goods.

- Always have as many employees as possible, and always upgrade them to journeyman ASAP. The increase in productivity should cover the increase in cost pretty quickly.

- Try to up your AP count as much as possible. AP lets you do stuff, but a big one is using it to train your stats. In the early game, I'd recommend focusing on handicraft and negotiation, since establishing a business and earning money makes it much easier to accomplish your other goals, whatever they may be.

- Getting a government position depends on getting an appointment. Getting an appointment depends on the relationship you have to the person making the appointment. Highest relationship = The appointment. You can hold the right mouse button down over their relationship bar to see how they feel about the other candidates. Many items improve relationships, and you can also host parties if you have a dining room.

- Don't skimp on spending for parties, you cheapskate.

- If you have children, you can give them the solider, drawing board, or top items. These increase their stats, and are pretty handy (though not vital) for establishing a decent character when your current character dies.