Assessments: supplemental or full actions?

[Ghsdkgb]

Lets say I'm playing Thomas during the throw down at Bianca's party in Grave Peril. I make a Lore roll and tell Harry "Their bellies! Without the blood, they're too weak to fight!" Is that my turn, or can I make another action (at a -1)?

Does it make a difference if I use that to place an Aspect, or just give another player a chance to place a Called Shot type of maneuver?

[Tedronai]

Assessments do not place aspects, only discover aspects that already exist.

[JDK002]

Generally if you have to roll dice or spend a fate point instead of rolling dice, it counts as an action.

And as already mentioned Assessments permanently reveal aspects of a person or place.  Declairations and Maneuvers create aspects.

[UmbraLux]

Lets say I'm playing Thomas during the throw down at Bianca's party in Grave Peril. I make a Lore roll and tell Harry "Their bellies! Without the blood, they're too weak to fight!" Is that my turn, or can I make another action (at a -1)?

As a declaration, you still take your turn.  If it's an assessment it may actually take more than one turn.

Does it make a difference if I use that to place an Aspect, or just give another player a chance to place a Called Shot type of maneuver?

A called shot is probably going to be a declaration though that will change from one group to another.  Discovering an existing aspect is an assessment.  Placing an aspect is going to be either a declaration or a maneuver - though there's a fine meta-game line between placing and discovering an aspect when using declarations. 

Check out YS113 - Creating and Discovering Aspects.  You can guess by spending fate to use it, make an assessment, make a declaration, or perform a maneuver.  As for time taken, "All assessment efforts require the use of a significant chunk of time..." (YS115) suggests most assessments will take at least one exchange and probably more.  I would suggest that time requirement doesn't apply to guessing.  On the other hand, declarations are free actions* by default (YS116) and maneuvers normally take an exchange. 

*I tend to put soft limits on declarations.  It's also worth noting that enough free actions (some arbitrary number) do become a supplemental action.

Generally if you have to roll dice or spend a fate point instead of rolling dice, it counts as an action.

Not always - specifically not when making declarations.  I'd also suggest guessing an aspect shouldn't require an action.

[JDK002]

What do you mean by "guessing an aspect"?  Isn't that fundamentally the same thing as an assessment?

[Taran]

What do you mean by "guessing an aspect"?  Isn't that fundamentally the same thing as an assessment?

pg. 113 "Guessing Aspects"

[UmbraLux]

What do you mean by "guessing an aspect"?  Isn't that fundamentally the same thing as an assessment?

Taran points out the page it's discussed on.  In essence, you can spend fate to use an aspect you think exists.  If you're reasonably close you succeed but, if not, you've lost a fate point.

[JDK002]

Ah okay.  No idea how I missed that on my read throughs.  From a mechanical standpoint what are the differences between doing that and using a fate point on an assessment?  I don't have the book in front of me.  Is it just that one doesn't take up you action and doesn't reveal the actual aspect and just get a yes or no answer?

[UmbraLux]

Is it just that one doesn't take up you action and doesn't reveal the actual aspect and just get a yes or no answer?

You'll probably get an answer if you're correct (no reason not to, you've come close enough for the bonus) but you're invoking the aspect as part of another action instead of making a separate assessment action...and gambling your fate point that you're correct.     If you're wrong, your action occurs without the +2 and you've lost a fate point.

[Chrono]

Is all of this in the book? I need to reread the chapter on Aspects...

[Becq]

All assessment efforts require the use of a significant chunk of time, usually indicated in the skill write-up. However, this time invested in preparation allows these skills to come to bear in more time pressured environments (like a fight) where they would not typically be useful.

As UmbraLux mentioned, I think that what you are looking for is a Declaration, instead.  Assessment is basically a mechanism that allows you to uncover a hint from the GM in the form of a generally "durable" aspect.  For example, a character might make spend a few hours to make a Contacts roll, resulting in the discovery that his opponent is In hock up to his eyeballs, which he might make good use of some time later, perhaps during a social conflict.  Declaration is what allows you to apply knowledge that your character "already knows" to place an aspect.  The example mentioned earlier regarding RCV bellies is a good example of this, which takes no time at all (you still get a full action without penalties, even though a roll was required to "place" the aspect).  You can also use a declaration to "create a scene element", as done in the example on YS116.

[InFerrumVeritas]

As a rule of thumb, I allow my players (as a group) to make one declaration roll per exchange.  Any character may make the declaration, even if it is not their turn.  Declarations made with fate points do not count against this.

This prevents über aspect stacking for, essentially, free, but encourages my players to think narratively. 

This is a house rule of thumb, however.  Just a guideline.

[PapaD]

Re: spending a fate point to guess an aspect - you only lose the fate point if you guessed correctly, or if the negative response reveals something about the targets aspects that you wouldn't otherwise have known

Otherwise, the fate point is given back.