I have a question after playing my first game. When a skill is modified eithier by a skill improvement or asset does that add dice or change what you need to roll?

Example:

I have strength 2. I have a double barrel shotgun that adds +3. Am I rolling 5 dice that need 5+, or 2 dice that need 2+?

Thank you

Unless otherwise stated (Blessed or Cursed conditions), you need a 5+ to succeed. You would roll 5 dice and need a 5 or better. However, sometimes certain cards score more successes on a roll of 6.

In other words, assets giving you +X to a skill, add to your dice pool - increase the amount of dice you'll roll. Don't forget, though, that only one direct bonus counts, but any other asset properties are usable, like rerolls. For example strength 2 + 1 improvement token, a bullwip asset, a .45 automatic asset and the shotgun asset give you 2+1+4 dice (base skill + improvement token + highest bonus available), and one reroll (from bullwhip) and your '6' results count as 2 successes (shotgun). In this case the .45 automatic asset gets ignored.