Do I actually need [POWERS]?

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by cmdicely

Mine is somewhere in between.

GURPS Basic Set 1: Characters
GURPS Basic Set 2: Campaigns
GURPS Basic Set 3: Martial Arts
GURPS Basic Set 4: Powers

(I'm starting to lean toward seeing Mass Combat as Basic Set 5.)

I don't see any of the Magic themed books (Magic, Thaumatology, Magical Styles) as being nearly as core as any of the above, in the sense that the above are books I'd use regardless of genre, setting, or tech level.

Powers is definitely genre dependent. If you are running a game with no supernatural powers...then powers is useless.
Martial Arts I really, really like. But I have been in a game with almost no combat it in. And I could easily imagine a game where only the basic combat rules are used...a sort of breezy Lite game...the Martial Arts is useless.

Honestly, I think there are only two basic set books...all the others...all of them are going to be more or less useful depending on the genre, setting, tech level, and style.