Pick 2 key colors, then the number of colors before, between, and after them.

Generate a smooth ramp of colors using any 2 colors in the ramp as your starting points, rather than just the first and last color.

For example, if you wanted a ramp of 5 colors, you could start with the base color and the lightest color, then use 1 color between and 2 colors before to get darks that are equally far from your base color as your light color.