Search For Secret Doors /Traps using a die and Mind Points

[Daedalus]

HeroQuest's strength is its simplicity, but oversimplification can result in a bland or less-than-believable experience. Case in point: searching for secret doors or traps.  Seek and Ye shall find... guaranteed, every time.  Even waaaay down that hall, farther than you can move.
  My bias in this case is old-school AD&D, where a tough check is needed- but unfortuanately too tough for HQ.  A 1 in 6 or 2 in 6 chance of finding a secret door misses a lot of doors, or requires a lot of redundant searching on that 10' section.  Why so tough?  Because they're friggin' not meant to be found!  Traps aren't easily discovered either- that's Gary Gygax for you.
  Problem is, randomized checks would screw up many maps where you absolutely need to find a secret door to finish a Quest.  In such cases a search action should automatically succeed.  What about all other cases?  Answer: use a check action modelled off of the Disarm A Trap action.
  First-off, allow a near sure-thing die roll if the Hero is in the right place.  Any adjacent space (defined orthoganally) that contains a secret door* or trap will be detected if anything but a black shield is rolled by the player on one white combat die.  The dwarf doesn't even need to roll this check for traps- he should succeed automatically due to his innate trap skill.  
  With non-adjacent cases, bring a limit in on how far a trap or secret door can be detected when that action is taken.  Use a Hero's current Mind Point total...it ain't doin' much else.  A trap or secret door is only found within a range of squares equal to those Mind Points.  Count the range orthogonally, as if the Hero actually legally moved that many squares (don't count diagonally).
  Next, a different die result is needed to discover a trap or secret door within range, but not adjacent.   Anything but a white skull will do the job.  The Dwarf merely needs anything but a black shield within his Mind Point range to find a trap as he is Mr. Traps.
  If you like the D&D elves-are-special slant, optionally allow the Elf to succeed with secret door searches as a Dwarf does with traps searches. After all, it was Ladril the Elf who saw Zargon's Black Hosts from afar while camping in the high passes, as described in Loretome.
  One last option:  Allow a Hero outside and adjacent to an open door to discover a trap just within the room that is otherwise un-discoverable.  It's tougher, though.  The Dwarf needs anything but a black shield, while the other Heroes need anything but a skull.  Essentially, Heroes lose the adjacency advantage and are seaching with their Mind Point range.

* Regarding secret doors:  Because most secret doors are located on a wall, they open to the next square and are in effect one square away.  Thus, to be adjacent to a secret door, a Hero must actually be against the wall.  Being at a corner (either inner or outer) alows the Hero to be adjacent to both extending wall squares.

[Daedalus]

A revision of the house rule from the OP above (less why, more how):

Search For Secret Doors Or Traps
The Hero takes a Search For Secret Doors or Search For Traps action and rolls a white combat die:

• If passing through a secret door is necessary to complete a Quest, then a searching Hero finds it automatically.
• If a Hero is orthogonally adjacent* to a secret door or trap, then he finds it with anything but a black shield; however an Elf finds such a secret door automatically, while a Dwarf finds such a trap automatically.
• If a Hero isn't orthogonally adjacent* to a secret door or trap but is within a number of squares no greater than his current Mind Point total, then he finds it with anything but a white skull; however an Elf finds such a secret door with anything but a black shield, while a Dwarf finds such a trap with anything but a black shield.
• If a Hero is located a number of squares greater than his current Mind Point total from a secret door or trap, then he finds it with a black shield; however an Elf finds such a secret door with anything but a white skull, while a Dwarf finds such a trap with anything but a white skull.
• If a Hero is orthogonally adjacent to a trap located on the other side of an open door, then he finds it on anything but a white skull; however a Dwarf finds it with anything but a black shield.
  -edited

* To be considered adjacent to a secret door, a Hero must be standing against the wall is is located in.

Additional Notes
Rushing a search by moving in the same turn results in bumping the needed die result up by one difficulty level. For example, moving and then searching for a secret door or trap that is located a number of squares greater than a Hero's current Mind Point total isn't possible (bumped from needing a black shield), except that a Dwarf could move and find it with a black shield (bumped from needing anything but a white skull).

If a player wants to search and then move, he must declare so beforehand so that the proper bump in difficulty is set. Otherwise, no movement afterwards is possible on the turn a Hero makes a search. However, moving and then searching is possible and doesn't require a declaration.

Only one search from a zone of orthogonally adjacent squares is possible if there is no wandering-monster house-rule in place to counter excessive checks.

[cynthialee]

Perhaps only allow Heroes to search for traps on as many squares as the Hero has in mind points. The player must indicate which squares are being investigated. Dwarf gets to investigate for traps with a + 8 squares bonus to his mind points.

[Daedalus]

cynthialee-
Nice use of Mind Points for a check. It might be less taxing on the Zargon player, and is simple to note as a house rule. Personally, I'm in favor of generally allowing a Hero player a greater range of detection, but to each evil wizard's own. Your Dwarf case would potentially gain a greater useful range (in front), which makes sense. Taking out the combat die roll definitely increases the usefulness of those squares chosen for a search.