That would seem to be right - just not 100% sure on difference distance makes. Tried another brief experiment - went to the Abby (haven't cleared that yet), engaged combat, dropped a scorpion, ran 'til the battle was off-screen. Still got XP from the kills, although the scorpion does not seem to initiate battles itself (i.e. will only attack creatures that have attacked you). Not sure on that one though - I remember that early on in the game there was a wolf listed as one of my kills, & up to that point I definitely had not killed any wolves/dogs myself, but did have a scorpion running loose.
Just as a side note - the scorpion will keep fighting if you get killed, & your dead character still gets XP! Was quite surprised the first time after a 'death' (before I hit the reload key) & my char calls out 'Fantastic' as she levels up! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" /> - was kinda weird at the time (but funny <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> ).
