Responding to yet another thread that had something asked of me in it and I wasn't able to, to respond to Mal's question the level difference isn't a problem until you hit a level 4 character adventuring with level 1s. Before that, you're only looking at a 5-10% mechanical increase in the rolls themselves, and a few more powers. In addition, without giving much about the adventure away I can say that certain elements of the adventure make a bard's job harder, so Hacker with a bunch of level 1s is about on par, maybe just a smidge more powerful but nothing to break the party.
However, what's Hacker's move at this point? Depending on which thread I'm reading, he's either:
1) Still in my adventure.
2) In renau1g's adventure (probably not, as the last post I can find from ren time-wise says Lily has the leader spot there)
3) Helping 7-Rabbit with his brother
4) In "The Closed Eye" adventure, taking the spot of the now-passed Palindrome
Admittedly, the utter chaos that just erupted in the tavern isn't making it easier for me to figure this all out, but from what I can tell either 1 or 4 is the most likely situations.