The amount of charcoal a pit can produce crossed my mind. If the pit were an extra feature, in addition to vanilla furnace production of charcoal, the pit's cost makes sense. It's just that when it's the only way to produce charcoal in-mod, I have to ask what the intended solution to those torches you need the first night is.
The alternative, I guess, is to dig a hole and hide in it until morning, doing nothing or perhaps doing everything by feel in the dark while the hungry undead moan outside.
You don't need torches for the first night, nor for the next one 
. As long as you don't go underground or building a house.
Hole in a ground (up to 3x3x2) is quite safe, and you are at the caveman stage at this time anyway)). Charcoal pit takes few hours IRL to create (lazy pace), and after that you don't have to think about coal any more. Persanally, I prefer 5x5x5 pit, because I am to impatient to fill largest one, even with giant trees. And as said above - coal and lignite ores are ewerywhere on surface in large amounts. Next pain in the *** will be diamonds.
Honestly, I started 3 maps, dig 100 holes each in 10x10 squares(in guesstimated vein locations), and only get 1 diamond vein. But... it was epic 
.