Where do Clerics of Vlaakith draw their power from??

[Freckled Banana]

If Clerics get their powers from their God...
And Vlaakith is not a real God...
How do Clerics of Vlaakith get their divine powers?

[jk2l]

i don't think there will be official answer, she probably more closer to demigod but not full yet. i guess she is as powerful as a lesser deity

[Pyromaiden]

they do 100 push-ups every day

[Wokelander]

Daily self-affirming exercises in front of a mirror and a fervent belief in alien space naziism

[RÊYTH]

The Githyanki, clearly, are like the Kuo-Toa in that they (must) manifest their god through intention alone. [Or however that silly thing is supposed to go.]

Did someone require that this stuff be logical &/or make sense? Because if so, I have a whole list-o-reality checks for the human population throughout history....

[emreyigit1967]

Gith have psionic abilities, and it may be the successful clerics are confusing innate powers with gifts from Vlaakith, who does not seem the type to want to dole out gifts even if she could.

[ObsidianButterfly]

Vlaakith is not a god in the way Mystra, Shar or Selune are. She is an extremely powerful lich (hence they call her the Lich Queen). I believe Lae'zel actually mentioned something like this at one point that her intention is to ascend to true godhood through some method the Githyanki have been carrying out for her for a long time, but has been unable to do so.

Keep in mind you don't need to be a god to bestow power on a mortal. Warlocks are proof of this. They just merely need to be sufficiently powerful enough.

[You Touched My Tralala]

good question

my theory would be that Vlaakith herself found a way to draw divine power from souls she absorbs, thus mimicking or completely recreating same divine powers as actual gods provide

[Sentient_Toaster]

It's the WAAAGH!.

Forgotten Realms isn't really a setting that is expected to bear strict scrutiny for plausibility and consistency. :P

[taniwhat]

Same way the other clerics do. A fixed smile and a really good line of bull****

[jonnin]

V is as much a deity as the dead 3 and other ascended mortals.
That said, it does not make a lot of sense, but the pantheon of this universe has always been very screwy.

[DrZann]

Though the rule books over the years have said that clerics receive spells from their gods in practice that seems to be interpreted rather loosely. Sometimes just belief seems to be enough. For instance, Zargon in The Lost City (1982) module is described as just a monster posing as a god for the tasty sacrifices but it still had clerics.

[Wokelander]

Aren't 5E clerics actually powered by their belief in the metaphysical portfolios of their deities than directly by their deity?

[GriffinPilgrim]

Originally posted by Wokelander:

Aren't 5E clerics actually powered by their belief in the metaphysical portfolios of their deities than directly by their deity?

In other settings this can be the case but not in the Forgotten Realms. There divine power has to come from a god.
But, critically, it does not have to come from the god being worshipped. For a while after the Time of Troubles Waukeen, goddess of Trade, was trapped in the Abyss but her friend Tymora, Goddess of Good Luck, took over her portfolio. However clerics of Waukeen didn't become clerics of Tyrmora during this period, they were still clerics of Waukeen having their power channelled by Tymora. Also in this game there are clerics of the Absolute, who is not even a god, who are unknowingly getting their spells from the Dead Three.
As for whose granting spells on Vlaakith's behalf my guess would be Tiamat, since she has an established deal with the Githyanki. It would not be the first time Tiamat posed as another god.

[Brian_the_Brute]

From the souls of the victims she consumes who think they are ascending. She also has wish spells.