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From Ultimate Magic:
Once per day, the power of your faith surges, further empowering your judgments.
Prerequisites: Judgment class feature
Benefit: Once per day, you can treat your class level for your judgment class feature as if it were 3 higher than normal. If you have multiple judgments active at the same time, this benefit applies to all of them.
From Advance's Player's Guide, Inquisitor class
Starting at 1st level, an inquisitor can pronounce judgment upon her foes as a swift action. Starting when the judgment is made, the inquisitor receives a bonus or special ability based on the type of judgment made.
At 1st level, an inquisitor can use this ability once per day. At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the inquisitor can use this ability one additional time per day. Once activated, this ability lasts until the combat ends, at which point all of the bonuses immediately end. The inquisitor must participate in the combat to gain these bonuses. If she is frightened, panicked, paralyzed, stunned, unconscious, or otherwise prevented from participating in the combat, the ability does not end, but the bonuses do not resume until she can participate in the combat again.
When the inquisitor uses this ability, she must select one type of judgment to make. As a swift action, she can change this judgment to another type. If the inquisitor is evil, she receives profane bonuses instead of sacred, as appropriate. Neutral inquisitors must select profane or sacred bonuses. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.
Destruction: The inquisitor is filled with divine wrath, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all weapon damage rolls. This bonus increases by +1 for every three inquisitor levels she possesses.
Healing: The inquisitor is surrounded by a healing light, gaining fast healing 1. This causes the inquisitor to heal 1 point of damage each round as long as the inquisitor is alive and the judgment lasts. The amount of healing increases by 1 point for every three inquisitor levels she possesses.
Justice: This judgment spurs the inquisitor to seek justice, granting a +1 sacred bonus on all attack rolls. This bonus increases by +1 for every five inquisitor levels she possesses. At 10th level, this bonus is doubled on all attack rolls made to confirm critical hits.
Piercing: This judgment gives the inquisitor great focus and makes her spells more potent. This benefit grants a +1 sacred bonus on concentration checks and caster level checks made to overcome a target’s spell resistance. This bonus increases by +1 for every three inquisitor levels she possesses.
Protection: The inquisitor is surrounded by a protective aura, granting a +1 sacred bonus to Armor Class. This bonus increases by +1 for every five inquisitor levels she possesses. At 10th level, this bonus is doubled against attack rolls made to confirm critical hits against the inquisitor.
Purity: The inquisitor is protected from the vile taint of her foes, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases by +1 for every five inquisitor levels she possesses. At 10th level, the bonus is doubled against curses, diseases, and poisons.
Resiliency: This judgment makes the inquisitor resistant to harm, granting DR 1/magic. This DR increases by 1 for every five levels she possesses. At 10th level, this DR changes from magic to an alignment (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) that is opposite the inquisitor’s. If she is neutral, the inquisitor does not receive this increase.
Resistance: The inquisitor is shielded by a flickering aura, gaining 2 points of energy resistance against one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic) chosen when the judgment is declared. The protection increases by 2 for every three inquisitor levels she possesses.
Smiting: This judgment bathes the inquisitor’s weapons in a divine light. The inquisitor’s weapons count as magic for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. At 6th level, the inquisitor’s weapons also count as one alignment type (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. The type selected must match one of the inquisitor’s alignments. If the inquisitor is neutral, she does not receive this bonus. At 10th level, the inquisitor’s weapons also count as adamantine for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction (but not for reducing hardness).
At 16th level, whenever an inquisitor uses her judgment ability, she selects three different judgments, instead of just two. This only consumes one use of her judgment ability. As a swift action, the inquisitor can change one of these judgments to another type.
At 20th level, an inquisitor can call true judgment down upon a foe during combat. Whenever an inquisitor uses her judgment ability, the inquisitor can invoke true judgment on a foe as a swift action. Once declared, the inquisitor can make a single melee (or ranged attack, if the foe is within 30 feet) against the target. If the attack hits, it deals damage normally and the target must make a Fortitude save or die. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the inquisitor's level + the inquisitor's Wisdom modifier. Regardless of whether or not the save is made, the target creature is immune to the inquisitor's true judgment ability for 24 hours. Once this ability has been used, it cannot be used again for 1d4 rounds.
Which parts of the Judgment ability does Judgment Surge improve, exactly?
The feat's wording is ambiguous, at best. The only certainty, as far as I can tell, is that it boosts the direct effects of individual judgments, such as granting a 2nd-level Inquisitor an additonal +1 AC from Protection.
I'm building an Inquisitor for PFS, so I'm trying to get a good idea of how various DMs might interpret this trait. Questions, with my best guesses, in descending order of ambiguity:
Does Judgment Surge provide an extra use of Judgment?
In the feat description table from Ultimate Magic, it summarizes the feat: "Gain improved versions of your judgments." So, it does not appear intended to add extra judgements, at least by whomever wrote that table.
The actual language of the feat is very broad, however. Uses per day is part of the "judgment class feature," and it is governed by "class level." Similar boosts to class features, such as from Robe of Arcane Heritage, specify what parts of the feature they effect (in that example, available bloodline powers and effects, but not available bloodline feats or spells, or their effects). Judgment Surge has no such restrictions, so by RAW there seems to be no reason why it wouldn't grant an additional judgment usage while active.
The ambiguous duration complicates (as below) complicates this a bit further. I could understand a DM ruling that the Surge adds one use to the judgement pool when activated, and subtracts one when terminated, so that ex. a 1st-3rd a level Inquisitor who Surges their first Judgment of the day would have no uses left when it expires, but Surging after having used their normal one Judgment/day would gain another use.
Does Judgment Surge unlock Second Judgement et al. in the appropriate level range?
Second, Third, and True Judgment are all listed separately from the main Judgement entry on the Inquisitor page. Further, some archetypes (Exorcist) replace the three (Ex) abilities without changing the main Judgment class feature, while other archetypes (Heretic, Vampire Hunter) alter Judgement without affecting Second Judgment, etc.
I would consider these four separate class abilities, and say that ex. a 5th level Inquistor using Judgment Surge cannot use Second Judgment.
When can Judgment Surge be used, and what kind of action is it?
I don't have any idea what rules govern untyped abilities with unspecified activations. Does it need to be used before, after, or simultaneously with the use of Judgment?
How long does it last?
Presumably until the affected judgement ends, i.e. until the end of the current combat. Still unsure of what the RAW say on this, if anything, but it would be a pretty worthless feat otherwise.