[HoneyBadger]

A solution to the problem that strikes me, is to make special sites automatically searchable for mages with three times the level they'd need to find the site normally-so you've got a fire 3 mage auto-finding fire 1 sites, but able to search for fire 2, 3, etc.

And

Then to make the number of 0 level sites not count towards the total percentage. They should have their own chance of popping up, dependent on a map command that you can set when you choose or create a map, so that you can have random or created maps which are naturally more or less rich in terms of easily discoverable resources.

The appearance of rarer sites would still be determined at the beginning of the game.

The auto-searching I've describe might also motivate slightly the addition of level 5 sites (15/3=5, a potential upper limit), which I think would be interesting, as well as making empowerment slightly more strategically rewarding.

To offset the auto-search ability: perhaps a relatively low-level, ubiquitous magic item could be added which would allow blood mages, *only* when they blood-hunt, to automatically find 1 blood slave for every three levels of blood magic they have, *in addition to* whatever blood-slaves they might randomly find otherwise, in the course of a normal blood-hunt.

A level 3 blood mage using the magic item would automatically find atleast 1 blood-slave per turn, plus however many random ones.

Example: "Blood Diadem" Helmet, prot 2. Requires 5 bloodslaves to create, also Blood path 2/Const 0. Carved from the hip-bones and finger-bones of atleast 5 young virgins, the Blood Diadem allows the experienced blood-mage to harness the power of his own blood and actively call out to suitable blood slaves, who cannot resist his call while any portion of the moon is in the sky. Blood hunting is increased dependent on the power of the mage.

Moon Talisman. Misc. Requires 5 bloodslaves to create, also Blood path 4/Const 2. This strange little charm is created in a ritual which opens a gate between the temporal and astral planes, allowing a small moon-rock to fall through. The rock is polished, bound in delicate silver chains, and then soaked in the blood of virgins until it turns from white to dark red. The moon-rock may be used to summon any suitable blood-slaves in the area, via the well-established thaumaturgical law of "Like calls out to like". (This is to allow blood-fountain Pretenders to take advantage, and increase the utility of the whole practice, since you can choose whether you want to use a helmet slot or a misc slot.)

This would both stabilize the "blood magic economy"-useful especially for "cottage-industry" blood economies that might be based on the Blood Fountain, for instance, while at the same time not enormously increasing the power of blood magic, since you'd still be committing atleast 1 powerful (path 3 or above) magic user to forging an item, using a slot, spending slaves, and then producing slaves.

Ofcourse, the rest of the details of blood-hunting would stay as random as they are now.