Funnels are optional. If you don't want to do them, start at level 1.
After DCC characters level up once or twice, the lethality goes way down. DCC levels are roughly equivalent to two D&D levels, so a level 3 DCC character is about as fragile as a level 6 D&D character -- not very, in other words.
In any case, Mighty Deeds of Arms is so good, it's a headscratcher that every game hasn't stolen it. And DCC does a great job of making magic (both arcane and divine) weird and mysterious. Characters are rightly nervous standing too close to the wizard or cleric.
