(1) If you roll highest on initiative, but decide to delay your action to see what the bad guys do first, and they smash your face in, are you still considered "flat footed" even though you had the highest initiative roll?
(2) If I have a move speed of 30 feet and a climb speed of 20 feet, can I move 10 feet on the floor, then climb 20 feet up a wall all in one movement action?
Delaying is an action, so you aren't flat footed.
Your climb speed should be reduced by the proportionate amount of movement you used. 10' is one third of 30', so you've used 1/3 of the 20', round it off to 5'. So you can climb 15'.
As jadelyon stated on the ready action. As for the question on climbing - it limits your movement as well...
With a successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (or even across a ceiling, provided it has handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed.
Accelerated Climbing: You try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a –5 penalty, you can move half your speed (instead of one-quarter your speed).
Thus, I would subtract the 10 feet from the floor movement and allow someone to climb 5 feet up the wall (one-quarter of 30 feet base rounded down is 5) or use accelerated climbing and climb 15 feet up the wall (one half of base 30).
As jadelyon stated on the ready action. As for the question on climbing - it limits your movement as well...
With a successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (or even across a ceiling, provided it has handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed.
Accelerated Climbing: You try to climb more quickly than normal. By accepting a –5 penalty, you can move half your speed (instead of one-quarter your speed).
Thus, I would subtract the 10 feet from the floor movement and allow someone to climb 5 feet up the wall (one-quarter of 30 feet base rounded down is 5) or use accelerated climbing and climb 15 feet up the wall (one half of base 30).
Those rules are for things that don't have a climb speed, similar in the way that swim rules are for things without a swim speed. They don't apply to creatures with that specific type of locomotion.
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Delaying isn't an action. It's voluntarily reducing your initiative.
Delay
By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.You never get back the time you spend waiting to see what's going to happen. You also can't interrupt anyone else's action (as you can with a readied action).
I'd say that you are treated just as if you'd rolled the new place in initiative that you chose. If you'd rolled it, and you'd be flat footed, then delaying to get there does the same.
You can ready an action on your higher initiative and you wouldn't be flat footed.
Flat-Footed: At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed.
A person who delays has had a chance to act. He's simply deferred.
By your interpretation, a character that delays for multiple rounds is still flat-footed after several rounds of combat.
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Phrennzy's interpretation is the most reasonable for movement.
You are comparing to differing rates over the same span of time. Meaning, if I climbed for my movement action I would go my climb speed. For creatures with a climb speed this has a set value. For creatures without a climb speed it is calculated off your base speed.
When you are moving two different rates over the same span of time the only sensible solution is proportion out the movement. Difficult terrain and hazard rules set a precedent for this. You move X speed until you reach the area your speed rate changes to Y speed.
For instance, if your climb speed was 60 and your land speed 30 you could move 10' to the wall, then climb 40'. When your climb speed is only 20 and your land speed 30 you have to fudge the math a little because the numbers are not easily divisible. So with Speed30/Climb20, if you move 10' the wall and then climb, you should try to finish at close to 2/3 of your remaining movement up: 2/3 x 20 = 40/3 = 13.333 Round up to 15 or down to 10 at the GM's discretion.
As for the Delay Action:
These are quoted from the CRB Combat section under the relevant headings.
By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act
normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act.
When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative
result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower
initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can
act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or
just wait until some time later in the round and act then,
thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.
You never get back the time you spend waiting to see
what’s going to happen. You also can’t interrupt anyone
else’s action (as you can with a readied action).
Initiative Consequences of Delaying: Your initiative
result becomes the count on which you took the delayed
action. If you come to your next action and have not yet
performed an action, you don’t get to take a delayed action
(though you can delay again).
If you take a delayed action in the next round, before
your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to
that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get
your regular action that round.
Flat-Footed: At the start of a battle, before you have had a
chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in
the initiative order), you are f lat-footed. You can’t use your
Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) while f lat-footed. Barbarians
and rogues of high enough level have the uncanny dodge
extraordinary ability, which means that they cannot be
caught f lat-footed. Characters with uncanny dodge retain
their Dexterity bonus to their AC and can make attacks
of opportunity before they have acted in the first round
of combat. A f lat-footed character can’t make attacks of
opportunity, unless he has the Combat Reflexes feat.
Inaction: Even if you can’t take actions, you retain your
initiative score for the duration of the encounter.
My argument is simple. You are not flat-footed past the first point your initiative count comes up (your first regular turn), and you have to reach that point in order to decide to Delay or not to Delay, and you can end your Delay at any point or keep acting. (Technically if you specify "I delay until Initiative count 10", you have to wait until Init 10 before you can make choices again, but since you can also Delay by just waiting until you want to go the point is valid).
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Flat-Footed: At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed.A person who delays has had a chance to act. He's simply deferred.
By your interpretation, a character that delays for multiple rounds is still flat-footed after several rounds of combat.
Agreed. Furthermore:-
In every round that follows, the characters act in the same order (unless a character takes an action that results in his or her initiative changing; see Special Initiative Actions).
Delaying is an action; specifically, a special initiative action.
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Just to toss in something regarding flat-footed: The rules in the combat section do not state that you must take an action; they state that you must have had the chance to take an action. So even if 'delay' wasn't an action, it still would remove the flat-footed condition, because you've had a chance to act during the round.