Once upon a time, when Shadow Lord the evil one swept across the land, the legendary Dragon Lord gathered the heroes and eventually defeated the Shadow Lord. The Dragon Lord, however, was seriously injured and eventually died, transformed into Runes, which are sealed with the shadows deep inside the temple. Now, the temple is long wasted, and the power of the enchantment has become weak, so weak that the power of shadows are leaking. The descendants of the heroes gather, march into the ruin to find the runes and seal the shadows again — but the shadow's followers have infiltrated the group. Runes & Ruin is a fantasy partnership game designed for 4 to 6 players, with various characters of different abilities, and numerous artifacts that are the key to success. Players advance their team toward victory by exploring the ruin and attacking others. The heroes must find all the runes before the seal fails; the shadow follower must sabotage the heroes' plan. Depending on the number of players and the stage of the game, one to three shadow followers are hidden among the players, just as truths are always hidden underneath lies...