GURPS Essential core books

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

Id shake this mindset.

You can make excellent arguments for MA and Powers, and they are GREAT books, but consider instead what game you are going to use GURPS for. Let that guide your purchases.

This, definitely this. He took the words right out of my mouth.

And despite what all the other forumites are saying, you really only need the core books. The supplements help a lot, but they're not essential to running the game. I've run combat-heavy games without Martial Arts, power-heavy games without Powers, low-tech games without Low-Tech, and so on. I do highly recommend them, but it's one thing to say "This supplement is great!" and "This supplement is essential."