Hi there! Good questions.
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The first piece of advice I’ll give it think of your skills less like “I need to roll to see if I can do this” and more “Absent a player-driven strategy, if there’s a risk, you can roll instead to see if it turns out okay.”
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You’re right to think that everybody starts with 1 (in 6) for each skill. This is only modified by attributes for Aldwins/Vonhnkars. Dulkeen have starting skill points to add to their initial ratings.
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And yep! For party success, you’re rolling X-in-6, where X is based on your preparation. If you roll your rating or lower, huzzah!