Big news today in the Dungeons & Dragons field.
Wizards has released a 5th Edition system reference document that is very detailed and robust. They have two programs for publishing third party content, one using just the SRD, and a Dungeon Masters Guild, where publishers align with Wizards and can liscence the use of proprietary settings like the Forgotten Realms.
All very interesting.
You can download the 398 page SRD PDF directly from the Wizard's site: Source 4j
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Wizards Of The Coast Releases D&D 5th Edition SRD (Hover)
I rather doubt that's the case. Sales numbers for 5E have been really solid, and they've been since it's release. This is something they said they'd do a long time ago. I suspect the strategy is to give people desperate for new content avenues to get it without Wizards having to devote a lot of resources to it.
Wizards/Hasbro can still point a new player toward a handful of books so the barrier of entry isn't too high, and people used to the supplement treadmill can get the new mechanics they crave. I think it's a win-win. Plus, someone will soon take that PDF SRD and turn it into a lovely, functional website.
The issue of sharing content from Dungeons & Dragons 5e recently came up so I did a shallow search on it. From what I've read online, the sharing of Dungeons & Dragons 5e content outside of what is mentioned by Corinthi is illegal. On the official Dungeons & Dragons site for Wizards of the Coast they give only two options: buy it or use it virtually through another site. See here: Player's Handbook | Dungeons & Dragons. At $49.95 I can see why many do not immediately rush and buy it, however it is my belief that if you want to seriously get into Dungeons & Dragons 5e beyond what is offered for free then you will need to make the purchase.