Save vs. Cholesterol

I am on a number of emailing lists, as I imagine most people are. One of them is a free newsletter from Spes Magna Games called Quid Novi? which features short articles on things you can use for your D&D 3.5/Pathfinder games. Recently the author suffered from a heart attack - he's okay now - but apparently this had an effect on him, which doesn't surprise me in the least. Given the generally rotten health of most gamers (including myself), heart attacks loom large on the list of likely maladies a gamer might suffer. In this case, he didn't even have any health problems, so I guess you never really know.

So, in case you had a good game use for it - maybe a spell or magic item that rapidly ages a character, or a character who has been noted as being overweight - here's the D&D stats for heart attacks, courtesy of Mark Chance of Spes Magna Games:

Awful Afflictions - "My myocardium is infarcting!"

Shortness of breath. Shooting pains. Tightness in the chest. A cold sweat and clammy skin.

Heart Attack
Type disease; Save Fort DC 20
Onset 1 day; Frequency special (see description)
Effect 1d4 Str and 1d4 Con plus fatigue (see description); Cure 2 saves

Description A heart attack often strikes without warning. It causes loss of strength and health, and the victim is easily fatigued. Even though a heart attack can be treated via Heal as if it were a disease, it inflicts damage quickly. A new Fort save must be made every minute. The fatigue effect remains until all ability damage is healed. For a more severe heart attack, raise the damage to 1d6 or 1d8 of Str and Con damage and increase the fatigue to exhausted.