A hinged door in the floor, sometimes concealed to better serve as a trap, often simply a doorway to an area below.
The trapdoor gained prominence in Knightmare Series 3. During the quest of Team 4 of Series 3, Mellisandre was standing on one when it opened beneath her, and she fell in. She reappeared later in the level, unscathed. However, when the same thing happened to the careless maid in front of Team 6 of Series 3, it became the team's mission to "free the maid". Because the quest ended before a rescue could be completed, we don't know exactly how or where Melly became trapped after her fall, though she did return in later quests.
Team 9 of Series 3 had the distinction of being the first team to travel to Level 2 not by wellway as their predecessors had, but by trapdoor. The hatch was unguarded, but it was locked, requiring dungeoneer Scott to point a key and project a movable keyhole onto it (cf. Series 1's listening key and moving keyhole) before it would open.
In Series 8, the trapdoor became the only way for a dungeoneer to descend to Level 2. Motley, in spite of having been frozen and out of action for an entire season, knew of Level 1's "Great Trapdoor Room ... the entrance to Level 2. Well, it used to be." This might suggest that it had been in place, unseen by Watchers, for some time. Dungeoneers required a spell (FLOAT) or potion (Risky) to make the descent safely. In addition, the trapdoor was sometimes covered by a 'Reach For Runes' puzzle that needed to be solved, or guarded by a skeletron or two.
There was also a trapdoor linking Level 2 to Level 3 in Series 8. That too was guarded by a skeletron, as shown in this picture from the quest of Team 3 of Series 8, where Hordriss is destroying one (formerly the Bimboid).
The following team also reached the Level 2 Trapdoor Room, but were unable to open the trapdoor, and tried leaving through the open portal. Dungeoneer Michael was hit with a fatal fireball for doing so.
Earlier in that quest (Team 4 of Series 8), Rothberry had avoided standing on the Level 1 trapdoor next to Michael, claiming that (the weight of) two people would cause it to open (though in no other quest did this seem to apply). Only after a FLOAT spell had started to be cast did Rothberry stand on the trapdoor, having taken a flying potion: while Michael floated down, the apothecary remained suspended over the opening, as shown in the picture.
The Golden Galleon featured a hatch/trapdoor that Team 6 of Series 8 used to evade oncoming miremen.

[Earlier version: 2007-07-27 17:37:26]

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A suspect potion given to Honesty Bartram by Lord Fear, along with a Risky potion. Having been ordered by Fear not to sell Risky, Bartram tried to sell Team 3 of Series 8 Trapdoor instead, but they persuaded him to part with Risky. Since Risky was later used to open the level's trapdoor, it's unclear what the Trapdoor potion would have done, though the chances are that it would have been fatal to the team.

The team's potion choice is reminiscent of the 'TRICK or TREAT?' spell scroll decision that Team 5 of Series 6 had faced.

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