I'm working on the new rules now, so I can have them ready to go in time for the new campaign. This will basically be what I'm thinking of changing for "BWG 2.0"
The actual gameplay will stay the same, the only thing really getting updated would be gang / character creation. Nothing is set in stone yet, these are just some ideas and once I put everything together I'll make a test rulebook PDF for anyone that wants to try it out
So first off, there will be a new part of your character.. your race. There will be 3 races: Humans, Beasts and Undead. Tommyknockers will be a 4th race, but they won't happen until the adventure game since they all live underground. Each race will be like it's own faction and you can't mix the races together in the same gang except with some very special skills (more later).
I was planning to have the beasts have Monsters, Fiends and Minions like how humans have Gang Leaders, Professionals and Henchmen. I think I'm going to change this to something more universal for all. Infamous Characters will be the 100 XP models, 1 must lead your gang. So, a current gang leader would be an infamous character, or an Alpha Werewolf or Ancient Wendigo would be infamous also. You can have 1 Infamous Character in your gang for every 5 models, like now.
Instead of Professionals & Fiends we'll have Elite Characters. Henchmen and Minions, I think I'm just going to call all of them "Members". Humans form gangs, so humans will have Gang Members, Beasts will have Pack Members and Undead will have Coven Members. Again, just trying to make everything universal so people don't get confused, no real need for 2 different terms meaning the same thing.
Each race will have special unique abilities. The Leader's Luck rule will become the human special ability, plus they will have access to all weapons and artillery and only humans can use artillery.
All beasts basically get the Bestial Speed ability, basically they get the Run & Gun skill for free, so all beasts can run and attack, and beasts may have Elite and Infamous Skinwalkers that have special abilities based on whatever animal they are.
Undead have the Ravenous ability, for every enemy they take out in melee combat, they gain 1
HP, and this can be added to their starting
HP if they haven't been injured yet. And they will have Elite and Infamous vampires that get Bloodline abilities, but most of their standard members will be zombies.
This might be too big of a change, not sure yet but I'm thinking about removing the skills as they are now and instead treating them as special abilities, but each current skill will also be on the list.. and most abilities will have an attribute minimum you need to have, like the skills now. Infamous characters get 3 abilities, Elite get 2 and members get 1.
Some abilities will be like a special attack, like venom spit or a rending bite, others will be more like passive abilities that you always have, like having wings so you can fly. And some abilities will only be available for certain races, while others are universal. Professions, Animal Aspects or Bloodlines will each have a specific ability associated with them that you must take, but it's a bonus and doesn't count toward your minimum. Like, a Gunslinger always has the Take Aim ability or a Werewolf will have the Throat Ripper ability. A wimpy little normal gang member could learn Take Aim also, but it would be his only ability, where that Gunslinger can Take Aim, but will also have 2 other abilities to choose from.
Anyway, that's pretty much everything that I was going to change. If you have any ideas, questions or concerns, feel free to jump in