I played lots of forbidden lands and quite some dragonbane. Undoubtedly dragonbane is much more heroic with the aforementioned death saves, hitpoints and conditions. Bear im mind that damage taken while down (from an aoe-monster attack or a stray fireball) is an automatically failed safe. In my experience you can absolutely play it gritty, dark & challenging, just by giving less opportunity to rest & be on friendly grounds. You could even homebrew-temper with the death saves, die after 2fails but recuperate with 5successes, or leave them out entirely. But gain a bit of experience with playing as intended. Characters do die, by no means less often than in fbl.