It is not a crime against humanity for 1st level characters to be "powerful". While ultimately they shouldn't be death immune neither should the DM be looking to kill them off or else he thinks he's doing it wrong. The DM should never be out to kill the PCs regardless of level. Please realize this is not the same thing as saying PCs should never die. I'm talking about the DM being out to get them.

I thought such thinking died at the end of 2E. There were some rumblings during 3E but not so widely spread nor welcomed.