Urban Shadows is great. It does remind me of other games/media, though. When I read through US I compared it alot to my experience with Dresden Files FATE. Maybe because I needed a familiar format to map out the flow of play? It also seemed to have tools that I would of liked when running Dresden Files. Similar to how The Sprawl filled missing pieces of my experience with Shadowrun. I know other people look at US and see WoD, but maybe that’s just a learning tool for comprehension.

I will agree that Torchbearer is obsessed with dnd B/X. So much so that if the players aren’t familiar with B/X then TB can feel mean and arbitrary. I first played B/X after running TB and it made so many things click for me. I tend to prefer TB over BW because the premise is so strong. BW is the deeper experience but requires a lot of negotiation in the beginning to set up the Situation. Where as, with TB the premise is set and clear, if you have the right past experience.

The colonial marines hack of TB where you fight Aliens is an easier sell at my table, because more people are familiar with the inspiring media. I wonder if people use media as a short cut to reach players who rarely open up rulebooks and wouldn’t find a grip on rule nuance. When I sell people on BitD I def mention Thief/Dishonored.