Hi @timothyrcross. Thanks for the questions.
Yes, you can definitely do this with templates. One item to note is that any pre-assigned tasks will show up under the assignee’s “My Tasks”. This is a common concern and thread on the topic, where you can vote to have it changed. Project Template assigned tasks show up in My Tasks automatically A workaround is to list the tasks as completed in the template, then reopen when using the template.
Yes, this can be done as well. Details here: Auto-shifting dependency dates is now available on all projects! Hope this helps.