Yes, that's how I run it but of course feel free to change it. Its a good motivation to get them to hire NPCs or set up a base to store stuff
Thanks for the confirmation. The impression I got was that they would take up slots. Can I run it with just a single character? I want to give it a try solo.
Yes, Tunnel Goons works very well for something like a gamebook or text-based CRPG, with no GM.