The presence of strong spin-orbit coupling in heavy 4d and 5d transition metal compounds can give rise to a variety of novel electronic and magnetic ground states. One of the most famous examples of such phenomena is α-RuCl3, a honeycomb lattice material which displays highly anisotropic, bond-directional Kitaev interactions, and represents the closest experimental realization of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid state. In this talk, we will discuss two very different examples of spin-orbit-driven physics in Ru-based quantum magnets: the 6H-perovskite Ba3MRu2O9 (M = In, Y, La) and the double perovskite La2MgRuO6. In both cases, we show that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) can reveal crucial information about the underlying physics of these materials. Ba3MRu2O9 is a 4d cluster magnet, with a structure based on face-sharing Ru2O9 dimers. We find evidence of a fragile molecular orbital state in this system, with an electronic instability that can be tuned by subtle changes in local structure and trigonal distortion. La2MgRuO6 is a Ru4+ (4d4) double perovskite, which displays a non-magnetic Jeff = 0 ground state. We observe a spin-orbit exciton that reveals a small energy gap to the Jeff = 1 excited state, identifying this system as a promising candidate for excitonic magnetism.