integration with wf_required_fields

I'm working on a large fairly complex cck form with workflow and conditional_fields. But I need for required field validation to not be done at all while the node is in the 'draft' state-- this is what wf_required_fields does, but it doesn't respect whether or not conditional fields have been triggered. I'd like to code this up as a patch for either module (see #869868: work properly with conditional_fields also), but I have no clue where to start.

Any ideas or suggestions? I'm actually surprised no one has run into this sooner....