Yup, very easy to go from a thin brothy soup to a thick stew, or after chilling, just about a... solid casserole, say; with not very much rice, pasta, beans, etc. Remember that most of these absorb 2-3 times their volume in water, so start with at least as much broth. And they release a lot of starch, thickening the broth, especially evident once left to cool.
Your basic friends (carrot, celery, onion, meat, etc.) I think are pretty inert (other than the mechanical effect), but mind that potato releases some starch.
And the other things you're cooking will take up space, making it... more congested so to speak, once the starches go in. It's like going from mortar to concrete: you start with a modestly thick paste, then add gravel and it's that much firmer.
So all of that together, plan on maybe 20-50% more water than calculated? Or put another way, and probably about what I do -- add enough water to cover the base, then add starches with their recommended hydration. Seems to go alright. But I'm definitely very careful with pasta, it expands much more, and releases much more starch, than you expect from its loose, open structure.
Tim