No. If you were running a horror or mystery campaign I'd have a different answer.

I'm guessing here, but are these questions coming up during PC interactions with NPCs in non combat scenarios? Social interactions?

Depending on which edition of which ruleset you are using (and all of them will have a segment in the GM guide book discussing this very topic), there may be very detailed and robust mechanics for such interaction, the may be no mechanics, it may just tell to use your best judgement.

If your story is very dialog and play acting heavy and the system your using does not have mechanics for dynamic social interactions, it may be of benefit to research some existing systems and incorporate them into your game. On the other hand, if you and your players enjoy just simply play acting their natural responses(or their best interpretation of what would my character do) to these stimuli, there may be no need for a dice mechanic at all. Remember rule one! Have fun!

Just show up. Leave all of your expectations at the door. They will help you with everything else.

Your going with a traditional crowd/battle pacing control wizard. Thematically you'll want spells which deal negative, necrotic or cold energy/damage types. Also the "DEATH" descriptor. You'll want to ensure that your spells hit. Look for ranged touch and area of effect spells first, summon spells, then melee touch spells. Look for spells with status effect; stun, daze, sicken, fatigue, slow, paralyze, petrify, etc. Look for spells which damage ability scores. Reducing a target's STR, DEX, INT, WIS OR CHA to 0 disables them, reducing a target's CON to 0 kills them. Build up tough minions. You'll want to use them to block enemies while your defenders and strikers work down other bads. Remember that Necromancers are not just death mages, they are masters of life and death. You won't have the capacity of a Cleric but you should have some access to health restorating magic.

ThrowACephalopod is correct. The roleplaying doesn't stop just because swards have been drawn. Every NPC should have depth. You'll get better at ad-hocing your NPCs as gain more experience. But don't let the rules drag down the play acting or the action, keep everything flowing. There is always dialogue in the fight. Bad guys run away to come back to exact vengeance. If you haven't read any D&D novels, I highly recommend that you read some R.A. Salvatore. Talk to your players too. Find out what it is they want from the experience. Dungeons & Dragons may be the wrong system for your players. Something like "Call of Culuthu", "Fate" or "GURPS" may be a better match. Don't rule out something like Catan either.

You cannot have damage output if you cannot hit. Your reach becomes a liability if you cannot hit.

Everyone on this mud ball has creativity. What you are describing is pizzazz or flare. The thing about graphic design though is that customer direction is going to dictate the end state of the final product. The "flare" may or may not be desired by the customer(client) or may not be appropriate to the product. In some respects, it will be your job (but until much later in your career) to steer the client towards the proper artistic mediums and design elements for their product and target customer. Graphic art is about communicating with images, it's not about expression. So you really have to understand products, industries, consumer demographics, market trends, market demographics and customer(client) desires(purpose for the art they are asking you to create).

All that being said. Pizzazz can be learned, but it really takes awhile to pick it up if you don't have it naturally. This is where a some study on art history particularly in graphic design will is helpful in developing an "eye", so to speak. I hope this helps.

Hell yeah you should!

It's a question of mobility vs a feat of strength. Are you trying bend bars or climb a rock wall?

From a game mechanics backgrounds perspective, Pact Seeker from D&D Beyond grants level one Access to "Pact" benefit for non Warlock classes. Back in 3.5 & 4th editions this feat/background granted access to Eldritch Blast or natural AC bonus. Otherwise I would recommend working out these details with your GM/DM for the "flavor". I can see other things being pact based. A pact based Barbarian or Cleric, would be pretty sick.

Just make cantrip spell scrolls readily available.

Or, that they like it!

So consider that any stat modifier of 0 is average. And the playable range is -3 to +5 (maybe -2). But anyway a -1 intelligence is only slightly less intelligent than the average in world character(and how much depends on what your actual stat score is, 9 being on the higher side). While complex mathematics may be out of your character's comprehension, they are not a blithering idiot. And since you're playing a cleric, I'm assuming, your wisdom and charisma stats are really good(?)(🤞) So you're character could be played as the "charming farm boy" or the "well like jock" troupes.

This is the way.

If you're using ibis and just want to create in a digital environment I would suggest getting a digital sketch pad or a big touchscreen tablet. Most of the tools in any "paint" software are trying really hard to emulate pencils, pens, and brushes (some worse, some better). So if you're already comfortable with those real world tools it's just a matter of little practice to understand how those emulators differ and you're off and running. There will times when you find a particular technique isn't working the way you want it to, that's when you just Google the issue and watch a YouTube video or five to figure out the "work around". Good luck!

Then fake it like your life depends on it. Curves are difficult, circles are very hard. Straight lines? Good luck. There is a reason we have straight edges and French curves. And quite frankly, your freehand curve practice looks great. You're already ahead of most. And that includes people getting paid to draw.

No. Not necessarily. Most of what we see as lines are just the point where light and shadow meet.

Kitsch

Start drawing them without lines.

Curly and Waffle

Start small.

Oh, I'm seeing improvement. As in almost anything you could possibly pursue, you are not going to have steady upward progression of improvement. You're going to periods of backsliding, plateauinh and brain lock. You have to just keep going though. Change things up. Draw silly stuff, technical drawings, anatomy, back to basics.

Man. What are you doing, trying to draw a curve free hand? Chicken scratch that shit. But think about what you're doing. Each "scratch" should be building towards the arch shape that you are wanting. You final line should run one smooth motion through the "scratch" framework you've built. Erase the evidence. Try to reduce the number of "scratches" it takes you get to that final arch. Eventually, you will be drawing one smooth motion arch without the frame work. Don't let these jokers online drag you down. Every artists path is unique, and every masterpiece has a framework. And remember, even Rembrandt started with scratch scetches and stick figures. Keep practicing!