How is the damage calculated for the kraken's Fling action?

Question

Among my group, there seem to be multiple ways of interpreting the damage from the kraken's Fling action:

Fling. One Large or smaller object held or creature grappled by the kraken is thrown up to 60 feet in a random direction and knocked prone. If a thrown target strikes a solid surface, the target takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If the target is thrown at another creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or take the same damage and be knocked prone.

The distance for the damage calculated is in question:

If the creature is thrown an intended 60 feet but interrupted say 30 feet in by a solid surface, is the distance then considered to only be 30 feet for the damage calculation? This would seem to be supported by the "up to 60 feet" phrasing, but also would then imply that the creature thrown had less momentum from an interpretation of physics simply due to a wall existing in the way.

Or would the damage be considered from the full 60 feet of the initial throw? The "up to 60 feet" would assert an individual could be thrown less distance by the kraken's intent, randomly, DM, etc. Then, the damage in question could be based on this.

The interpretation of the "up to" is up to DM discretion. Which of these interpretations is correct for the kraken's Fling action?

Answer 1

D&D is not a physics simulator.

Momentum isn't something that's considered in D&D 5e rules, for the most part. And when it kind of is it's baked into the specific description of the "ability".

For instance, the jumping rules state:

Long Jump. When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump. When you make a standing long jump, [...]

And the Charger feat says (PHB, p. 165):

If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, [you do extra damage or shove further]...

I could go on and on but the point is that the ability states that the thrown creature takes damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If it hits a solid surface after only 30 feet then it was only thrown 30 feet, regardless of how far it was intended to go, because physics and momentum don't often apply to table-top RPGs with wizards and dragons.