Leader power rating

Civilisation did not model the potential for the death of the leader (i.e. player) or the possibility of coups. The former must be accepted for a game to encompass the full scope of human civilised history, but the latter could still be modelled.

A leader power rating could be made up of several variable: military success, economic success, willingness to seek peace, etc. Below a certain threshold, the chance of a coup increases from zero, such that the lower it goes the chance gets greater (but above the threshold the player or AI player doesn't need to worry).

If a coup occurs, the civilisation is subject to reduced efficiency for a period. If the player is an AI player, they are replaced with a different AI player based on the reasons that drove the coup (a more militaristic leader replaces and economically-focused leader who was failing to win a war). Likewise, a human player is replaced by an AI player more focused on the areas that were lacking.

Of particular use and relevance would be the replacement of a leader would continues to fight an unwinnable war, with one that will accept peace negotiations, even a negotiation that subsumes the entire civilisation into that of the aggressor.

This might be a feature that players would want to be able to turn on or off at the commencement of a game.