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Well, actually, it's a magic Varisian wagon for my sorceress to live and travel in.
So, my plan is that my animal companion (Sylvan bloodline) will pull the wagon.
But I've also been researching alternate methods of wagon propulsion. Unfortunately, the only example vehicle with magical propulsion is a Colossal airship with two decks, described as "exotic and expensive." So it's a little difficult to extrapolate based on that, however, if you divide its price by its size, and multiply by the wagon's size, you get something around 8334gp. If, instead, you subtract the cost of a sailing ship (which the airship states it resembles) from the cost of an airship, you get the balloon, chains, and magical propulsion system adding 40,000 gold to the price. Even if you assumed that half of that was the expense of an airtight balloon, I guess it would explain why there are very few magic carriages.
There are no suggestions in the rules, either way, and my DM's not really comfortable with adjudicating house rules yet.
So, here's some other options:
-Enchant it either with a continuous Mount or Phantom Steed. Mount isn't really durable enough for combat, meaning it wouldn't be suitable for overruns; it would die immediately and often, even just by a single attack, and then everyone in the wagon would die, go flying, or both because of the incredible deadliness of the "sudden stop" rules. It is by far the cheapest route both in gold and resources (1000 gold to enchant with Craft Wondrous Items). Phantom Steed is barely more durable and three to eighteen times more expensive.
-The second is to enchant it as an intelligent magic item. The problem here is that there are only two movement modes available; one is "Item can sprout limbs and move with a speed of 10 feet" and the other is "Item can fly, as per the spell, at a speed of 30 feet." I'm trying to be a gypsy fortuneteller type, not Baba Yaga, so the sprouting limbs seems... wrong. The "basic" intelligent flying wagon that could talk would cost 11,000 gp, which seems quite reasonable and fun. (I'd possibly spend a bit more in order to give it 120' senses and darkvision, plus skill ranks in Fly.) The hitch is that Fly limits the target to carrying its "maximum load, plus any armor it wears," and items don't have strength scores. On the other hand, wagons specifically DO have a carrying capacity: "These wagons can carry up to 4,000 pounds of cargo."
Still, I'm afraid this might be a case of words not meaning what they mean outside the game. Although an intelligent wagon that's always flying off without me would be hilarious, I'm not sure I'd really want to spend 5000 gold giving it the ability to cause me hassles.
-The next is that I could dump all my feats into crafting. Along with the planned Wondrous Items and probably Craft Rods, I could take Arms and Armor and... Craft Construct! This is the most expensive both in gold and in opportunity cost. It would cost 12,500gp for the basic Huge Animated Object, of which Wagon is listed as the example. It would be able to trample all on its own, though for much less damage than if it were being driven. It would probably also fly (though badly) and swim, because the only way of using its creation points to make it more durable are to make it out of metal or stone. (There are options for grab, but none for swallow whole, which would have been funny.) It would be mindless and lot less fun to talk to, too, and couldn't really watch out for us the way an intelligent wagon could, having no perception.
I'd also be able to make other constructs. I'm playing a fortune-teller in Kingmaker, and so I could have a bunch of those coin-operated robots in boxes that hand out cards with your fortune, and they'd all look like me. Unfortunately, the "Inhabit Image" spell has only a 50'/level range, but it still seems amusing. Other possibilities are making little metal vipers -- they usually deliver poison, but it specifically says that they can also deliver potions with a bite. Either way, I could make a few for the alchemist in my party, and that might be really fun.
On the other hand, I'd then be a sorceress who had no feats to help her actual spellcasting. (Not that I'll be needed to kill stuff when there's an alchemist around, but...)
One last thing is that while the spell "Animated Objects" requires a nonmagical object to begin with, there's no such stipulation in Craft Construct. If I actually take all the feats, I don't see any rule against animating my intelligent wagon, although of course this would be really expensive. I wouldn't be able to modify its initial enchantments once it become a creature, either, so I'd have to be sure that it was the way I (and it) wanted it to be, first.
Am I missing anything?
Why not use a constructed horse or something to pull the carriage? Also does it specifically say where or how the legs must appear? If not, you could always have them be small and show up under the wagon. They could be shaped like a specific animal's so that the tracks wouldn't look strange.
I can't help you, but I can say you that your ideas are very cool.
The cheapest way might be to have a magic trap (using trap construction rules for a reusable trap) that sets off a phantom steed to pull it.
Without knowing what spell is used in the sprout limbs movement version I would check to see if it defines the limbs as legs and feet or are simply limbs used to move as you can then have it sprout tiny limbs underneath the wagon and have the them turn the axles. A pair of freakishly strong tiny hands hidden in the undercarriage is probably not what the spell was intended to produce but would seem fine with me as they are limbs that cause the item to move.
Will you be teaching schoolchildren with your magic bus?
I DO like the idea of many little legs... my wagon would look like a big purple potato bug. Or, as Sereinái suggests, legs that actually turn the wheels. (The limbs option isn't a spell, it's an ability you can add to intelligent magic items -- as is the ability to Fly like the spell.)
The cheapest way might be to have a magic trap (using trap construction rules for a reusable trap) that sets off a phantom steed to pull it.
That's brilliant! That IS way cheaper! It doesn't solve the fragility problem or the sudden stop rules, but it certainly does seem like a good way to make a magic wagon, overall. I could even build it into reins or something so it could be optional.
I never noticed, either, that magic traps were a Craft Wondrous Items thing. Fun! A few proximity-trigger traps around the perimeter of a camp that set off cantrips like Light could be pretty useful for camping and could be built for 250gp each. (Also, magic Ghost Sound whoopee cushions.)
This is why they never should have gotten rid of frisky chest...
Dot.
i cannot find it, but i recall either a 2nd ed. AD&D or 3rd edition spell that would permanently enchant a wagon wheel to turn, turned on/off with a command word.
Why not just cast Animate Object on the carriage?
or just animate one of the wheels
Animate Object or Construct a special Golem for it.
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If you're going to make your nice gypsy wagon for your fortuneteller to ride in, I'd go with a normal one and trick it out with a few reasonable things.
Have your carriage maker put in nice padded seats with horsehair stuffing and springs. Not only will this save you from jouncing on the road, it should also protect you from most of the "sudden stop" mechanics short of the carriage getting overturned.
If you really want to make it nice for the folks inside, have the back door of the gypsy cart lead to a "magnificent mansion." That will certainly protect from things flying around from sudden stops.
As for the carriage itself, the animate object spell specifically says that things with wheels move on their own wheels, so all you'd need to do is set that up on the carriage. Since it looks weird to not have a horse pulling it, put in a permanent illusion of a horse. That has the extra benefit of distracting the dumb monsters and bandits that want to kill the horse to stop you. Instead, they just jump into an illusionary horse and get run over by an animated wagon.
If you really want to be nasty, have the illusory horse be covering a continuous "blade barrier" that's a mobile trap that's being pushed in front of your cart like a siege engine. Anything that attacks the "horse" is run through the lawnmower then run over by the cart. Ask if you can make your "blades" in the shape of sharpened horseshoes so it will just look like the attacker was viciously trampled by your psychotic horse.
@Kevin_Andrew_Murphy: My future spellcaster knows what he is doing for his "Carriage of Curiosity" now...