As far as I can tell (unless I've just missed it) there are no mentioned rules in the EotE core book that mention delayed actions or changing your position in the Initiative order. So far my group has been playing with the ability to delay actions however I was hesitant to give this ability. My reasoning being that if it hasn't been mention in the core book they may be a good reason for it eg. balancing or gameplay issues.

Is there a reason delaying actions isn't mentioned in core or is it just presumed that this is always possible in all RPGs?

Thank You.

Well...for changing your position in the initiative order, there's the fact that you can do this every turn by way of the dynamic initiative slots.

Delaying an action can be handled on a case-by-case basis. Determine the difficulty, have your player roll, and then see what happens based on the outcome of the dice. Like,

PC: "I wanna shoot him as soon as his head pops out from cover."

GM: "Okay, he's in Improved Cover, so we'll see if your timing is good. Add 2 setback dice."

[setbacks come up blank, player lands a successful shot]

GM: Nice job! You waited until you saw his head and pulled off a clean shot. Now there is one less thug with a blaster."

OR:

PC: "I want to manually detonate the bomb when the bad guys come through the door."

GM: Okay, you can take an action now to check against their Vigilance, or just perform a "prepare" maneuver for them to check Vigilance against your (Mechanics, Skullduggery, whatevs)."

PC: "Maneuver now. I want to make a Perception check to increase my chances of success." [Rolls Perception, generates 2 Advantage]

GM: "You've got it. Your enemies will take an additional Setback to their check for that Advantage. You lie in wait..."

[Rolls dice, enemies fail check]

"Your assailants run through the doorway and onto the bridge, heedless of the impending danger. Your excellent timing on the trigger makes the bomb explode as they are directly over it, catapulting remnants of the bridge and several stormtroopers into the air."

Is there a reason delaying actions isn't mentioned in core or is it just presumed that this is always possible in all RPGs?

Awayputurwpn's post is more informative, but it's worth getting technical: your initiative roll just determines where a PC can go. The GM's check determines where enemies go. At the top of the order (and even as the battle develops) everyone can choose which order they go in, and change it all over again in the next round.

Is there a reason delaying actions isn't mentioned in core or is it just presumed that this is always possible in all RPGs?

Awayputurwpn's post is more informative, but it's worth getting technical: your initiative roll just determines where a PC can go. The GM's check determines where enemies go. At the top of the order (and even as the battle develops) everyone can choose which order they go in, and change it all over again in the next round.

The ECRB pages 198-199 talk about the initiative order. I feel that the description can be a bit confusing, so here it is in terms even I can understand.

At the beginning of an Encounter , everyone rolls for initiative.

All the rolls are written down. The PCs on one side, the NPCs on the other (or colors, or how ever you want to)

Lets say you have 4 PCs and 4 NPCs you will have 8 slots.

You only do this step one time per Encounter ! In the ECRB this is step 1 and 2.

Step 3, each player and NPC gets to go and take one Slot per Round .

At the end of the Round , if you still need more Rounds to finish up the Encounter , then start back at step 3. Everyone gets to pick a new slot to go on.

When a PC, or a NPC rolls for initiative, they are not rolling "for their" initiative, they are rolling for the TEAM. These then become available slots that anyone can fill. So Player A may go first in the first round, but may go third in round 2.

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So as per RAW, you can not "delay" an action. You can, however pick when you want to act in the encounter each Round . I really love this fluid and dynamic initiative system. In other games, It was an almost certainty of how the order would go each round. In those cases there was a distinct need for delaying, in EotE, there is no need for it.

As others said, this a great way to really work with and off of each other. Those advantages can really add to some major boost dice! I have seen my guys do stuff like this: Player A rolls enough AD to pass Player B a boost die. Player B does not act yet. Player C rolls, and gets enough AD to pass the next character a Boost die. Now Player B will act, he has aimed, so gets a Boost, and a Boost from A, and a Boost from C, so B is rolling three Boost (4 if double aim) to his skill check. That can be pretty handy. A lot of the times, my less than stellar combat guys will go first, trying to give the main shooter more boost dice for his action. It is like they are driving the target from cover and giving the main shooter time to line up the shot.

if you feel that "delaying" actions works for you and your group, then do works best for you, but in my opinion, you are doing more work than needed. I find the rolling and getting the results written down to be a little time consuming, but after that, it is fast and really easy to understand and keep track of everything. I recommend trying it out as per RAW, I think you guys will really like it, but, if delaying works, then you can stick with that. Either way, best of luck to you.