Posts: 3,537
Threads: 29
Joined: Feb 2013
Given that we have 5 players, wouldn't it be better to cull the civ list manually down to 15, rather than rely on RNG? I would drop Spain, Norway and Rome as forming the tails of the power distribution.
1 America / Teddy Roosevelt
2 Arabia / Saladin
3 Aztec / Montezuma
4 Brazil / Pedro II
5 China / Qin Shi Huang
6 Egypt / Cleopatra
7 England / Victoria
8 France / Catherine de Medici
9 Germany / Frederick Barbarossa
10 Greece / Pericles
11 Greece / Gorgo
12 India / Gandhi
13 Japan/ Hojo Tokimune
14 Kongo / Mvemba a Nzinga
15 Russia / Peter
Which would form nice groups of three, a meaningful choice almost whatever the mix. As for the pick method, I'm fully on-board with PB13-style of choose one from three randomly generated.
Other settings:
Difficulty: Prince
10 City States
Timezone: BST (GMT +1 until October), playing in the evenings 1800+