IceFractal
First Post
Quartz's suggestion is the way to go. Simply asking them why they are in jail will get them playing along without resentment (as long as they trust you), and also means it happens in a way they can accept. Of course, this only works if you're tossing them in jail for the sake of a cool adventure, and not to screw them over.
If you are trying to screw them over (they lose all their items, they get tortured in prison, they end up marked with a geas or something) - don't. They will fight you every step of the way and resent you for it, much more than a TPK. Campaigns have broken up over things like this.
But definitely don't go with the "guards show up and ask them to surrender" approach unless you have talked to the players beforehand. There's maybe a 50% chance they will, and a 50% chance they will hack up the guards and become even more outlawed, eventually ending up in a "kill all townsfolk" style campaign. Or quite likely, some of the players will want to surrender, and others will want to fight, which is even worse.
If you are trying to screw them over (they lose all their items, they get tortured in prison, they end up marked with a geas or something) - don't. They will fight you every step of the way and resent you for it, much more than a TPK. Campaigns have broken up over things like this.
But definitely don't go with the "guards show up and ask them to surrender" approach unless you have talked to the players beforehand. There's maybe a 50% chance they will, and a 50% chance they will hack up the guards and become even more outlawed, eventually ending up in a "kill all townsfolk" style campaign. Or quite likely, some of the players will want to surrender, and others will want to fight, which is even worse.