Would it be possible to have individual characters carrying different amounts of Subtlety, as opposed to the group as a whole? Likewise, for Influence?

The idea I had was that you could have a firebrand cleric burning people as a distraction for more subtle members of the team .

I think that another issue brought up by this question is "what does subtlety reflect?" Is it knowledge of the inquisition's presence? Is it knowledge of player activities? Is it a measure of how overt players are/how suspicious they are? Is it all of these things? Some of those possibilities could reflect allowing a different subtlety value for one player, while others couldn't. I proposed an alternative subtlety system and some general criticisms in the game mechanics subforum that assume its a measure of knowledge that the inquisition is present/how much the players are suspected of this activity. Given that definition, it wouldnt make a lot of sense for subtlety to differ among the acolytes, because the suspicion is more generalized.

I'd say this could be handled using the normal system. The act itself decreases the group's subtlety rating, but while they're away from the cleric, their subtelty receives a substantial temporary boost, enough to offset the decrease and then some. Once the cleric returns to the group, things would revert back to the decreased value, because he's drawn a **** lot of attention to himself.

I'd agree with Tom Cruise that the system as it stands now can handle that kind of situation. I like subtlety as a group mechanic, because it reinforces the idea of (a) everyone needs to be careful and act together, if one yahoo runs off guns blazing it will affect everyone in the party, and (b) the idea of a certain degree of paranoia in the air that can affect the party. It's possible you could botch something and make a big mess, yet no one in the party is identified. You still lose subtlety because now the heretics are suspicious of EVERYONE they see, because they know someone is out there to get them.

If I were playing a cleric interested in burning suspects on a space soapbox, I would think that using a deception check to throw others suspects off the trail could be considered to add to Subtlety. Perhaps even 1d5-2, or -3. That would illustrate that it's a risky maneuver, and could backfire on the Acolytes and potentially just make them generally suspicious (such as when you roll negative).

On the other hand, I like to start with the story or narrative of what's going on, then apply rules that follow. So if my GM said that there could be multiple groups of Subtlety, I wouldn't bat an eye outright. But I probably would want communication between groups to be dangerous, another 1d5-3 I'd say. Hmm. Maybe. Max 0, and only negative results apply. Depends on method of contact. Meeting in a coffee house is dangerous, mitigated by disguise and ditching tails. Radio is a bit safer, especially encrypted radios, unless you're up against Hereteks.

My 2 thrones, I guess.