Ok i bought this game a couple of days ago on sale and played the blacksmith for a while. I was doing ok i think, I made it to partrician but some time later the game said i was about to die and then i died. There was a little cut scene and then the game asked me if i wanted one of my sons to take over so i clicked ok. I noticed he had really crappy skills (even crappier than my main character started with ) so i started another game.

So a couple of questions. How do you know when your about to die? How do the Faustus potions work is there any way to tell how much they extend your life?

Is there any way to make sure your successors don't have like a half star in a couple of skills inherent your fortune and then get beat because all of your opponents have like 6 stars in everything?

Is there a limit to how log the game can last for ie can you just keep having successors every time you die and play indefinitely?

Is there like a strategy guide anywhere for this game because there are alot of features i dont get?

The closest indicator of the amount of time you have left is the candle on your (or anyone else's) character portrait, such as on your family tree or your allies and enemies screen. The less candle, the closer you are to dying. Indeed there is: Items like the top, the slate board, and the stone soldier increase your children's talents, and you can use them every turn! Using them, you can get your children's talents pretty high before your death. As long as you have an heir, yes you can. But if you fail to marry early enough in your life, or if all your heirs die off before you, the game will end.

Bit late to the party but: The candle beside your portrait (accessible via a family tree, for example) can indicate it to a certain extent. Average lifespan is around 40 years, I think. It expands your lifespan by a certain percentage. It's the most profitable in the beginning of your carrier. If your "life candle" is really low, you get a max of 1 year. I rarely used it - usually due to off-springs being too young - but there was 50/50 chance that it will work properly. The best way is to support an education of your children and giving them a money. They'll be able to hone their skills and be able to do a business that way. Even if the oldest one isn't going to be your heir, it's good for better relationships and widespread, influential dynasty :). At least, that's how I've played it so far.

You can play the game infinitely as long as you have heirs older than, I think, 10 years. I don't know any strategy guide, sorry.

heirs have to be at least 11 years i guess...
When you choose a heir (most of the time the second or third child) focus on him entirely, in my opinion all money spent on the others is wasted. Try to give them a stone soldier, rhetoric board and a spinning top every year. Alone with those you can sometimes get your heir to six stars in the respective talents. When he is 7 yrs old you can choose a profession. Choose something you dont already have, that will save you 8AP for starting a new career later in the game. All your professions and grades will be carried over to your heir :)
When he is 12/13 you will be asked to send the heir to a university. Not necessary but not bad either.
In your study you have the option to jump out of the window to let your heir take over... sometimes it is better to let your younger child take over, so you can control him a lot longer!

Hope i could help :)

in the original non-expansioned game your character could die at any late age of his life, however the gold version seems to have annoying bug when my every single character died at the exact age of 60, every single one, maybe it was included deliberately so people wouldn't lose their games if their sons wouldn't reach the game when they become available to play, to support that idea, they have also included this option to kill your current character by comitting suicide by few clicks

and about the time period of game... I remember passing year 1600 while playing and owning most of Berlin and I could still go on, I've read on the internet that the free game ends in 1600, which is not truth

i guess there is some limit and you cant just go to year 2000, but I dont know anything about it