I've never played these games in the past but I am interested in maybe giving Patrician 3 a shot.

I was wondering how big a part political plotting/scheming/etc. was in this game.

Thanks!

It plays only a little part - Patrician is mainly trading simulator, and s bit of RTS (naval battles).

In case you want a political career (city mayor), you need high reputation in your town. Reputation is achieved mainly by supplying the city with enough resources, donating to the church and other charities, creating jobs (by building factories), and so on.

There is a bit of political maneuvering once you become councilor. You might bribe once or twice a year your fellow councilors, and they would vote with you on council meetings. You might need to fulfill stock requests from the prince, and sometimes give him 'gifts' to keep him satisfied and not attacking the town.

Same things apply if you want to raise your political career to the top of the Hanse - you raise your reputation by doing other cities favors, bribing important people in other cities, and so on.

And if you are not interested in political career, you can concentrate trade and become very rich. Or you can concentrate on fighting pirates, or you can become a pirate. Overall, political maneuvering plays only a small part in Patrician.

HTH

To go a bit more into detail...

As major, among the various decisions you can bring up in coucils are tax rates and building abigger city wall to allow expansion. You are also responsible for defending the city, so you have access to the Arsenal and can muster new troops. This means also that there is no more danger when buying weapons in your home city to get deneounced... Other things like supplying the city or extending its infrastructure are possible as pure trader, too - but as amjor people will expect from you to take care of those things especially.

Being major doubles your votes to two in the Hanseatic coucil, where regularly a new eldermen is elected. Extraordinary hanseatic days are held if a city violates the rules by taking tolls or hiring Pirates. The the council can enforce various sanctions. If you fiannly become more wll-known and hanse-wide popular as a mayor, you can become elderman candidate. Then you can take up a quite big quests like taking out a pirate hideout, building a land connection between cities (requires lots of materials) or you can even get the assignement to build a completly new hanseatic city! If you have suceeded in two or three such assignemtns you will be likely elected for Elderman. Which can be seen as goal of the game (though you might continue playing; however the Elderman position gives little extra power beside getting three votes in the council and being allowed to buy weapons everywhere)

It's off-topic for here, but have you ever played The Guild? There is quite a bit of plotting/scheming in that game in order to manipulate influences (mostly to gain a certain position or to prevent someone from getting one), such as using lampoons, sending tirades of hatred in the name of someone to someone else, dedicating a poem to someone...