The pressure is part of the game. For the sake of the gods I am sick and tired of WotC making a version of D&D that coddles to players. 5E is already a very easy game as designed. Oh, you picked a spell you
thought was great and it turned out you were
wrong??? The HORROR!!!
Well, it is one spell, look through the list and when you level choose a better one... But you might be wrong again.
There is a lot of anger in that. More anger than RPG mechanics warrant.
I"m going to flip your statement:
I'm sick of people stuck in AD&D mode freaking out at versatility. Essentially you are saying that any character that can surprise you with a single spell a day, will throw off your DM-FU,
leading to cats and dogs, living together ....
total anarchy!
After all the time you have been DMing, a player surprising you with just
one spell per Long Rest is going to wreck your DMing prowess?
In all sincerity, I think you are up to the challenge.
5e is a lethal edition.
In September alone I have seen the following:
-My then 6th level Fighter failed a DC 13 Con save and started dying. Twice.
The first time on round One.
It is an old school rolled stats and HP game, I have +6 to the Saving Throw and 82 HP.
All
my HP, down to 0, because of
one failed save against a Banshee's Wail. (Twice)
My Initiative was right after the Banshees.
-A 10th level Halfling Bard with a +4 and Advantage to a DC 12
Suggestion spell, rolled the number two twice, and failed. The
Suggestion, essentially took her out for the day, due to the spell duration.
In the same session, the remaining three party members fight 4 trolls.
The monk is knocked unconscious by Troll 1 of 2 trolls surrounding her.
Troll 2 moves into feast. Each attack has Advantage, each hit is an Automatic critical hit, and
more importantly, each hit counts as TWO Death Save Failures.
(Two hits and the character is Dead.)
I rolled two sets of the number 1, twice.
I had the troll pick her up and take her deeper into the caves, (with more trolls), with the party and other trolls chasing behind. We were playing on 9/11, and as a group we have been referring to it as the
9/11/2020 Miracle.
Lethality is about how you play it.
This campaign is
an open roll, the dice are what they are game.
It feels like old school D&D to me.