Dice & Tests
Rolling is simple. Effective Level, or EL, is how competent you are for a particular task. Start with your base Level and add any modifiers as make sense. Would a Role apply? Maneuvers? Active boosts? If it can't be done without training, only add as much base Level as your rank in the relevant Role - your best, if you have more than one. Is the character hurt? Blindfolded? Holding their breath against poison? Some modifiers reduce EL. Below 1, the task is impossible. Negotiate disagreements.
The EL for a task is your target number, and will differ task to task. Boosts improve it, Harm drags it down, and circumstances do either, as can switching Roles. As ability increases, best results improve and chance of failure decreases - simple and easy.
Success just means rolling better than zero, but not over your EL; anything higher is beyond your current ability and fails. Within that range, roll high as possible for best effect that's hardest to resist or oppose. A 1 technically "succeeds", but is weak and easy to thwart - rolled result is seldom the final effect. Even if you punch well, your opponent might block better. Actual effect is your roll minus any opposition or resistance, and ties favor the defender.
At EL1 you can roll an even/odd die for a 50% chance of success. Without opposition to push back, nothing would ever be harder than a coin flip, which is absurd. Opposition creates challenge, turning that 50/50 into real uncertainty.