Richard Boone plays Paladin, a gentleman living in style at a fancy hotel in San Francisco. He dresses in white and is accustomed to the finest food and wine. A man of culture, he can quote Shakespeare and Socrates with equal skill. Everyday he reads newspapers from around the western part of the US. When he finds someone who may be able to use his help he puts one of his cards in an envelope and mails it. On the card is his symbol, a white chess knight, and his message: Have Gun Will Travel. Wire Paladin, San Francisco. His gun is for hire, and the cost is $1000.

When he takes a job, he changes from the cultured dandy into a rough and tumble gunslinger. Dressing in all black, he carries a gun on his hip and a Derringer up his sleeve. He is quick on the draw, but would prefer to outwit his opponent, and he is not above using his fists if the situation calls for it. Paladin was also very honest and highly principled. He would never take a job if he didn't think that he was on the side of justice, and the few times that he was tricked into doing so, he was quick to turn on his employer.

Have Gun Will Travel is more than your run of the mill gunslinger show though. Paladin often acts as a detective, having to track down his man, and sometimes discovering that things are not what he was led to believe. Paladin out thinks his opponents as often was physically dominating them. The appeal from Have Gun Will Travel didn't come only from the fight scenes, but rather the way Paladin would outwit his adversary. This was often more interesting than the obligatory fight scene.