Sometimes one little thing about the way someone looks can have a great effect over people. It might seem that a Necklace is just something you're wearing, but some people can be greatly attracted to you.
Necklace of Girion # Resource # Special Item # 4 MP # 3 CP # [+3] DI
Unique. Only playable at The Lonely Mountain. Bearer receives +3 direct
influence against Dwarves/Men and Dwarf/Man factions. If bearer is at a
Free-hold or Border-hold, he can make a corruption check, and, if successful,
you may discard Necklace of Girion to play any non-special item from your hand
with its bearer.
When I first looked at Necklace of Girion I though "why would you want to replace this item, when you can already GET any non-special item at The Lonely Mountain." After thingking for a while, though, I realized that that was not the main purpose of the card, and that the discard could actually be useful.
First of all, it's worth 4 MPs and 3 CPs. This is a little high on the corruption, though it's got the same ratio as Scroll of Isildur (though the scroll is easier to play). The Lonely Mountain is a fixed site, so there's a good chance you have it, and though it's auto-attack is 1@14/-, a good strike canceller gives you a nice item for free. However, since it is only playable at the Lonely Mountain, you can't fetch it with a Dwarven Ring and you have to reserve the site for when you draw this card instead of playing at whatever hoard greater item site you want. Also, as I said, The Lonely Mountain can play ANY non-special item anyway, so why not play that there and not have to make the corruption check?
The answer lies in the other ability. With this piece of jewelry, you get +3 DI against men/dwarves. Almost all of the factions in the north-east end of the map are men or dwarves and they tend to make up the decks that head up that way. For instance, Bard Bowman, normally with 0 DI, get's +3 from this card and +2 from a card like the Men of Dale and all of a sudden has to beat a 2 to influence them. Or have Dain II wear the Necklace. He can control Beorn, a character with equal mind. Or give this card to a wizard and have them control Thrain II and a 4 mind character. Or give it to Thorin II and have him control 8 7 mind worth of dwarves. Of course, for one less MP and CP and about as much hastle you can give a diplomat (like Thorin or Dain) +3 discressionary DI with a Magic Ring of Words...
So, once you have headed around and rounded up most of the factions in the north-east, you can grab something like Orcrist for the same 4 MPs and one less corruption, which will be more useful now than Necklace of Girion (unless the Necklace is letting you do something with your influence you couldn't without). It's just too bad that, since it's a special item, you can't have impress someone with your necklace and then slip in a Leaf Brooch in the trade instead.
The only real drawback is the 3 CPs, which really starts to add up in a dragon- slaying deck. Of course, if you fear a bad corruption roll, you could always switch this card for an Emerald of the Mariner for a surprise...
| Ratings for Neckalce of Girion: | |
|---|---|
| Isildur: | 6.5 |
| Samwise: | 8.0 |
| Bandobras Took: | 9.0 |
| Farmer Maggot: | 7.0 |
| Frodo: | 8.0 |
| Fingolfin: | 8.0 |
| Beorn: | 8.0 |
| Strider: | 4.0 |
| Legolas: | 7.0 |
| Cirdan: | 7.5 |
| Average: | 7.3 |
Card names and text copyright 1996 by Iron Crown Enterprises, all rights reserved. This document copyright 1997 by Trevor Stone. Permission given to duplicate so long as no profit is made and the copyright notice is kept in tact, blah, blah, blah.