You can play Pathfinder 2e (which is better than 5e anyway), for free, legally. You *can* buy the books in either hardcover or PDF format, as well as on digital platforms like Foundry, Roll20, and Demiplane, but that's entirely optional. 100% of the rules, creature stats, etc are available for free.
It's amazing how many free TTRPGs there are out there where you can directly ask questions of the person(s) that made it, whereas WotC has a definitive barrier between it and the public as far as interactions on their terms.
Why does anyone have to pay anything to play a game (no matter if the game is by WotC or Indie developer)?
Once someone has already bought the game (or you use a free SRD or similar resource) the producer of the game gets no money from you playing the game.
I'm not quite sure what you're getting at, but sometimes buying the game is the limiting factor. People feel more comfortable pirating dnd than pirating indies, even though pirating and playing an indie game is better for the indie game designer than never playing their game whatsoever.
And while the creator of the game doesn't get money from someone playing their game if you view it in a vacuum, in aggregate it adds up to more interest, recommending it to friends, and possibly future sales.
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Once someone has already bought the game (or you use a free SRD or similar resource) the producer of the game gets no money from you playing the game.
I mean bottom line, they're not stealing a necessity, but a convenience good. Any argument otherwise is merely justifying self indulgence.
"Pirating from Indies is immoral" doesn't mean it's immoral to play them.