“In the end, of course, we remain puppets and our smiles are still painted ones.
But now at least we have moistened them with our own blood.”
– Thomas Ligotti, “Professor Nobody's Little Lectures”
Skills
Due to a growing trend of using skills from other games like the Dead Reign RPG and
The Rifter source books in my home game, I decided to put together a list of all the skills that I use and where to find them.
While I was at it, I ended up compiling a list of homemade skills that either I've created or had found online.
Note that some of these skills are specific and if you're not sure where they are or how they might be used, you may want to keep them out of your game.
Finally, if you have any homemade skills that you use, send them to me and it just might show up on this list!
Click on the links below to download the PDF files.
The Skill List that goes “Beyond the Supernatural”
Last updated on 3/24/2025
Descriptions of Homemade Skill
Hobby Skills (optional House Rule)
Reloading Rules (includes the Tactical Reloading skill)
The Complete Palladium Skills Book by Mad Dog
Jay Harris, a frequent guest here at the House,
was kind enough to send me a PDF of
The Complete Palladium Skills Book. Written by a mysterious being known as Mad Dog, it is what it claims to be; a complete list of skills from all the various Palladium titles up to the time it was written.
The PDF mentions a website which Jay explained is now long gone, but some of the good people of the Official Palladium Mailing List still have a copy.
It's an impressive piece of work that contains a variety of skills from a variety of sources with some homemade skills peppered in for good measure.
It's a shame to see good reference materials without a home to call its own, so I'm proud to announce that it can now be found here in the House of BTS!
P.S.: If you're Mad Dog and happen to be reading this, send me a message via the
Contact Page so I can give you proper credit.
Skills from other books
This section has been added for my use as much as it's been added for other GM's and players wanting a compiled list of skills from other Palladium Books game lines that can be useful in Beyond the Supernatural, as well as expanded versions of select skill in BTS.
The list of skills are referenced with the book they're located in.
Dead Reign: In the Face of Death
While these skills were designed with the intention of surviving the Dead Reign zombie apocalypse, the following skills can be useful in the right circumstances, settings or particular flavors your BTS game table might be going for...
Parkour (Physical skill), page 102; note that the "Two against one" rule on page 191 of BTS-2 takes precedence over the 'unlimited dodges' this skill implies. Thematically it works for Dead Reign as its most often applied against lumbering zombies, but gives the PC an advantage over many of the monster types that attack in groups.
This in turn means you may have to infuse higher powered monsters to make it more challenging, which can overwhelm the PC's that lack this skill.
Zombie Survival Training (Physical skill), page 103; note that this skill is specifically for dealing with with Zombies and most of the bonuses only work when against them.
If zombies aren't a part of your BTS game table (or not very common), this skill wont offer much to your PC's.
Military Fortification, Defenses & Traps (Military skill), page 107
Bicycling Expanded (Piloting skill), page 107
Skateboard Expanded (Piloting skill), page 107; this one has seen a lot more use at my game table that expected, and the PC's have a lot of fun with it.
Civil Engineer (Science skill), page 108
Lore: Zombies (Technical or Paranormal Studies), page 108; while this skill can be covered via the Lore: Demon/Monster skill, for those GM's who want to use all the variant zombie types found throughout the Dead Reign books, this skill should exist in your world as the variety of zombies warrants having a lore dedicated to covering all of them. The same can be said for other beings that come in different varieties, such as the Vampires types from the Rifter #49 and various Werebeasts.
Metalworking (Technical Skill), page 109
The Rifter™ #7This issue of the Rifter includes an old favorite article of mine, titled World Warriors. While its main focus was offering new martial arts not found in the Ninja's and Superspies RPG, it also included several new physical skills. While some of them have been included in BTS-2, there are several skills of note worth noting for your home game, including:
Anticipation (page 52)
Dieting (page 53)
Plyometrics (page 53)
Qi Gong (page 53)
Tai Chi (page 53)
Yoga (page 53)
Note: Some of the abilities above include to Chi Base, something not currently available in BTS. What I've done instead is add +1 to all Psychic base I.S.P., and in the case of all other types (ordinary person, mage, etc.) add 1D6 to their P.P.E. base.
The Rifter™ #13This issue of the Rifter offers an article that includes several new O.C.C.'s for Beyond the Supernatural, including the Arcane Archaeologist, the Occultist, and the Cryptozoologist.
Note: All of the O.C.C.'s in this article were made for first edition BTS rules, you will need to update them to be fully usable in BTS-2).
This article also includes some BTS related skills to accompany the new O.C.C.'s. While some of the skills have already been added to BTS-2, there's some notable skills in this article to be considered:
Lore: Alchemy (page 27)
Lore: Science (page 28)
Cryptozoology (page 29)
Zoology (page 29)
The Rifter™ #19This issue includes what I consider to be one of the MOST important articles in all the Rifter's out there...
the beloved GO MENTAL! article.
Writer John Charles Philpott offers up a heaping helping of food for thought concerning “mental” skills like memorization, philosophy, puzzles and others, as well as some new physical skills and Optional Rules to Tame the Physical Skill Junkie (which I use and love).
This entire article is outstanding to me and its puzzling that's its not been canonized in Palladium Books as of yet. Its full of useful material suitable for most any Palladium role-playing game setting, especially so in the Beyond the Supernatural setting.
I consider this article to be a MUST have for all BTS players and GM's, which includes plenty of useful mental and physical skills.
Players may select the following Mental skills below in the place of Communications / Performing Arts skills or Scholarly / Technical skills whenever such skills are available to them.
Beautification (page 37)
Cosmetology (page 37)
Etiquette (page 37)
Fashion (page 37)
Image Enhancement (page 38)
Memorization / Study Skills (page 38)
Philosophy (page 38)
Reading / Literary Studies (page 38)
Riddles & Logic Puzzles (page 38)
Socialization (page 38)
Speed Reading (page 38)
Strategy Games (page 39)
The following are new Physical skills to consider:
Ambidexterity (page 39)
Ballet (page 39)
Body Sculpting (page 40)
Contortionism (page 40)
Free Diving (page 40)
Marathon Dancing (page 40)
Poison Tolerance (page 40)
Up next is an important note concerning the Running skill:
I use the version of the Running / Jogging skill in this article, as well as all their optional add on skills, which include the following:
Cross-Country Running (page 41)
Running / Jogging (page 41)
Note that the SPD attribute bonus is only 1D4. For those wanting to get another 3D4 (which equals the 4D4 SPD bonus of the Running skill in BTS-2), the PC will also need to take the Sprinting skill below.
Marathon Dancing (page 41)
Sprinting (page 41)
Track & Field (page 41)
Note: There are also notes for adding new bonuses to
existing skills on page 39. I use them and I encourage you to use them as well.
The Rifter™ #51Mundane Doesn't Mean Boring!: This article was written for all game systems, but favors and references BTS-2 heavily.
Highlights includes greater details on occupations like the Anthropologist, Archaeologist & Forensic Criminalistics,
GM tips, using skepticism & debunking in investigations, making a BTS-2 team, skill modifiers, contested skills and new armor and trauma notes. Notably however, there are new skills to consider for your characters:
Linguist (Communications skill); page 44
Trace Elements (Technical skill); page 44
Firearms and Toolmark Examination (Technical skill); page 44
Fingerprints (Technical skill); page 45
Odentology (Technical skill); page 45
Note: I consider this article a must have for BTS players and GM's as its become an important tool in my GM toolkit.
The Rifter™ #60Trust and Intimidation: A Way of Life -
While not a skill per se, this article goes a long in addressing the various uses a Player Character's high Mental Affinity attribute can offer them, as well as using the trust/intimidation bonus that comes with it.
I've experimented with similar ideas and find this article to be both insightful and useful, one that I might expand upon in an upcoming source book.
The Rifter™ #61Charm and Impress: The Key to Success - From the same writer as the “Trust and Intimidation” article above (Liam Gray), this article makes great strides in addressing and making better use of a PC's high Physical Beauty attribute, using the Impress or Charm bonus that comes with it.
As mentioned in the previous article, I've experimented with similar ideas and think this article is onto something. That said, anyone can find lots of uses for this article in any Beyond the Supernatural™ campaign.
The Rifter™ #62 Climbing, Expanded: This article is by a 20-year Palladium Books veteran who's taken up Rock Climbing as a hobby, and in doing so he understands that there's a LOT more to climbing than most people realize.
To that end, he's written an expansion to the Climbing skill, including a look at the grading system, the tools used (old and new), aids, protection, skill penalties, and upgrading the skill into both a Secondary Skill level (Hobbyist) & a some Professional skill levels (adding additional bonuses) and includes getting bonuses from other skills the PC might have.
Note: I got inspired and wrote an entire climbing scene into an adventure after reading this article. Every GM should at least look over this article as it might inspire you as well.
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