[solo]

It could be that the Pendant of Luck is limited to just battles, since it is described as a battle charm in the manual.

I used a Lucky Coin in my test, and again during an actual game on my Pretender, where it also seemed to be effective in limiting additional afflictions. I was especially anxious to avoid feeble-mindedness until I had researched Construction 8, when I would need my Pretender's magic to forge the Chalice. As a higher level magic item, perhaps the Coin is an improvement over the Pendant by conferring overall good luck.