Thanks for your interest dj!
1/ That's going to be more controlled by Kipi as DM.
2/ AFAIK it's going to be a party, if there's enough people interested maybe that'll change.
3/ I'd hope they would be useful. Both can be used in combat (or at least Intimidation- make enemies scared or friendly to you for limited time). So if I have any say in it (
) then they will have their uses but not to the point where you can't go somewhere if you don't have that skill high enough- of course that will depend on the campaign that Kipi's written though.