In the same general timeframe as the D&D Starter Set, we have the totally free PDF download of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules, the most complete look at the new edition of D&D that has existed to date.
You can download it yourself now.
As promised, this is a full game of D&D, including 4 races, 4 classes (going all the way from levels 1-20) and everything you need to run them including equipment and spells. There’s also the rules of how the game runs. The only thing it’s really missing to be fully playable are any monsters. Clocking in at 110 pages total, this is not a slim excerpt, it IS the rules, while still offering plenty of reasons why the full game as expressed in the upcoming Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual are worth it.
Aside from the aforementioned monsters, there’s also nothing really in the way of art or organization (ToC/index) as well. But for a free PDF, that’s about what I’d expect, and again is another encouragement to saying that this is one way to get playing D&D right now, but it’s not all there is to come.
Not much more to say at this point until I get to read it further, other than to recommend you go download it and check it out for yourself right now.
Thanks for this!
The current posting only includes very limited character creation and core mechanics. Per Wizbro, the basic rules will be added to paralleling the release of the Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual releases, so the “Basic Set” won’t actually be complete until sometime towards the end of October.
Some official monsters are available here: http://media.wizards.com/downloads/dnd/LoCS_Stats_Next.pdf