When you switch through the civs on the civ screen in embark you'll get a good idea of which civ you can play when the symbols change. I highly suggest adding picks and axes to the civ you want to play, however, unless you really like never being able to actually chop down trees or dig anything.
As for the last bit, there are various memory-hacking utilities that let you change the amount of points you start with, such as dtil.
Ha, you think THAT'S bad!
Try playing as the koboods!
They can't do squat!
Make certain you play as a civilization that has the [INTELLEGENT] tag, or things get really messed up.
As far as axes and picks go, you can wait till humans come and trade for those, if you absolutely have no choice.
HOWEVER, your citizens can only take up jobs that are listed in their part of the file. So, those Elves can't do much. Humans are fine. Currently, Goblins should also be fine.
If you want to have
lots of fun playing as different civilizations, I suggest getting one of the mods with many civilizations in it.
Warning! Shameless plug below! Hidden for your protection!
For a unique experience, try playing my mod as the Drunks. Lots of fun, and I even tested it!
Still, there's lots of mods with customized civilizations.