I would think that Advanced Torchbearer (or better Torchbearer Expert) would follow the source material and give us wilderness adventures and hex crawls. Although stronghold rules should give ample opportunities for Burning Wheel style political intrigue.
I think the hex crawl idea would be very interesting. Political intrigue might be better left for Burning Wheel. I also like the idea of the ultimate goal of TB being to ascend as an Immortal Lord.
I think that the upper levels should be built to offer both options: empire building or working towards becoming a legend/immortal. Basically, each level benefit would would offer one that that is good for continued adventuring. The other would offer options that facilitate building/ruling your kingdom.
I’m for the immortal path too. Although BECMI tacked it on to the end of the 36 levels I think in original D&D the gods were of those high 30+ levels. And when you consider the power a high level party had between them they pretty much were. I don’t know how Torchbeaerer would handle it but I just play.
You guys ever read the Legacy of Gird? Parts of it remind me of Torchbearer’s Immortal Lords schtick: an outcast becomes a hero becomes a god with paladins serving him. So D&D 4e fashion (“Heroic” -> “Paragon” -> “Epic”), TB characters go from murderous hobos to heroes of the land that people want to follow, seek out, imitate, destroy, until they become (third tier) someone whose Belief actually guides city-states or religious orders.
Then roll up a Level 1 again. 
I don’t see this being 1-5 (Hobo), 6-10 (Hero), 11-15 (Immortal). There should be a lot more levels in the second tier.
Of course, all this seems to go away from the original “hack / slash / loot” ascetic.
No no, it doesn’t get away from the original aesthetic. While the first immortal rules set was released in the mid eighties as part of the BECMI series it was in the air in the original edition white box and it’s supplements. The original players were nuts. But I agree, I hope there is more than 10 or 15 levels.
Agreed. I see higher level adventures being things like Planar travelling, more “high fantasy” in general. Maybe something like this:
Levels 1-5: Basic, low fantasy dungeon crawling
Levels 6-10: Advanced, high fantasy dungeon crawling
Levels 11-15: Expert, planar adventuring
Another thing… I wonder if we will see gray or white shading in Torchbearer advanced editions. Something like: exponent 10 reached. You may now opt to take a 4 and gray shade it.
I think it’s more likely that we’ll see ability exponents grow to be capped at 10 - the basic rulebook only goes to 6 currently.
Ah, that’s right. Page 13. Would it make sense to go to 6, and then gray shade back to a 2 rather than raise the cap to 10? I’m not clear on the math.
In any case, I’d wonder if we’ll see something in the vein of Aristeia and Epiphany from BW… and how about those Deeds?
On a single die, a gray shade increases success by ~16%, so rather than a 50/50 shot at coming up a success, it would be a little better than 2/3. On six dice, that means going from 3 successes to 4, on average.
I could see offering a free shade shift to your specialty skill regardless of your rating at level 6 as a level benefit for all classes/stocks. It would revert to half, rounded down or maybe be tied to its root stat. If we model the progression after 4E’s tiers, level 11 could offer the same benefit, except it allows you to shift to white if it is currently gray.
Deeds points would be cool. Maybe the higher levels’ advancement would be tied to earning and spending them?
I think that advancement will have more to do with Might than with skill exponents.
Stay cool 
I will set fire to my Torchbearer book…
No need to get all edition war-y! I merely meant in terms of the scope of your adventure, with each tier being more epic so like
1-5: basic dungeon crawling
6-10: full blown high fantasy/high magic adventures deep into the wildlands far from civilization
11-15: planar adventures