Once you have determined who your Dealer is (method TBD), they are the de facto GM for the upcoming scene. It is their responsibility to play the World (the World has a character sheet).

The Dealer draws one card from the deck and lays it down on the table to begin the Tapestry. This card is called the Weft.

The suit of the Weft determines the Ruling Planet of the scene, which in turn determines what attributes will be important in the scene.

The Dealer chooses two players to be in the scene, one is given the Big Blind marker, the other the Small Blind. Amongst other things, this determines how much they'll need to toss in the pot. Bidding is mandatory for these two players, and their participation is mandatory.

The Dealer uses the Weft as inspiration to set up the scene. It's a tarot card, so it's fraught with symbolic meaning.

After listening to the scene painting, other players may decide if they'd like to participate in the scene. If they would, ante up!

After the antes, Dealer draws a number of cards equal to the World's Ruling Planet score and places them in the Tapestry. This is the “skein”

Players who anted are encouraged to use the skein as inspiration for their character's involvement in the scene. Players also may fold at this time, signalling their characters non-involvement.

Players who anted and folded are “stitches,” meaning they are eligible to play NPCs. Dealers may ask any stitch to play any named NPC. The Dealer's only responsiblity for NPCs are playing 'extras'. Being the Dealer, and playing named NPCs, is a way to earn chips.

As the scene is played out, Dealer deals to each involved player their “shuttle” (hole cards). The size of the shuttle is equal to the character's Ruling Planet score, or half (rounded up) if you're playing against type.

Once it becomes apparent that the scene is nearing conclusion, or a conflict, Dealer flips one card from the top of the deck to complete the Tapestry. This end card is called the 'Warp.' What should follow is a final betting round, and a showdown of cards. Like poker in general, players are competing to make the best five-card combination. With wild cards, the possible hands are:

five of a kind

straight flush

four of a kind

full house

flush

straight

three of a kind

two pair

pair

Winner of the scene gets all the chips bet (chips are character points). Winner also gets to narrate the outcome of the scene. Any runners-up reserve the right to interject.

Players eligible for salary collect salary AFTER a scene ends. (Dealers, NPC-stand-ins, other? playtesting should shake out some better ideas)