It’s a very common trope in adventure stories that the heroes get captured and then have a thrilling escape. It’s so common, you may be tempted to use it in an adventure you cook up. Don’t do it.

Never have your PCs captured, no matter how cinematic it would seem. As almighty GM, you always have the ability to confront your heroes with overwhelming force and demand their surrender. But player agency is the point of the game, so there’s an unwritten contract that you won’t do that. Many players would rather their PC die than be captured.

If it happens accidentally, stop the session and promise they’ll have a good opportunity to escape & recover their gear quickly and be left in an advantageous position. It’s critical that they understand that they’ll lose nothing and perhaps gain something.

• Now they’re inside the villain’s stronghold that they’d otherwise have to infiltrate.
• Now they’ve learned secret information they’ve needed.
• Now they possess new items that will be helpful to them.

Humans have a natural, deep-seated fear of losing what we’ve gained—even more than we fear missing out one what we could gain. Don’t trigger that fear, or your players will likely take it personally, accuse you of being unfair (because, again, you’re all-powerful), and possibly refuse to continue playing.