theory

What would be the best way of going about that?

Well that is unfortunate. Looks like he's more concerned with monetizing it later than he is with having a quality product. I was laying out a mod very similar to this when I came upon H/M. I was hoping that instead of competing with it, I could contribute to it so there would only be a single true RPG mod. If Frizzil is uninterested, however, as it seems to be, then I'll just have to go my own way. Thanks anyway.

By Bukkit's license, I'm pretty sure this should be open source. Is there a repository somewhere I can branch and begin work?

Independently, none. I've assisted with several, however. I have the necessary ability to get this done. Just need permission.

I am a programmer with plenty of experience regarding minecraft mods. I would like to volunteer to update Hack/Mine to base 1.4.5 . I would post my suggestions for handling the new content for concept review before implementation. With an official go-ahead, and source access, I can start immediately. Please let me help!