Nope, none of my survivors have succeeded in the first place, so I can't develop anyone with recruitment skill, unfortunately.
Hence the dilemma, lol. And no, this is just default difficulty.
I take it I'm just getting lucky with the RNG?
And yes! Survivors can definitely die in recruiting.
*edit*
I think I'll just chalk it up to "luck" haha. I also got "lucky" with my first batch of level-up towers in that the final rooms all had this cluster-of-doom of those little shell enemies with the boomerang-ing blue shots that are hard to break in a pit with waterfalls blocking everything to the point I could barely see. But the last few I've done were fine, and one was even not that "pit" style room. So I think my worry is mostly unfounded.
I'm hoping as the enemy count rises, I see fewer of whatever that enemy is though. Freakin' hate em, lol.