Why do Salvatore’s men stay loyal to him?

[ElloinmorninJ]

In Fallout 2, Louis Salvatore was an ancient, sick, dying old man. He had a ventilator, ffs, he clearly wasn’t long for this Earth. Which brings up the question, why are his men loyal to him? You’d think with how weak he is, Mason, his second-in-commands, or any other of his metal armor wearing laser wielding thugs would’ve killed him and taken control of the family for themselves. So why didn’t they?

 

[TheGM]

It is called Loyalty, if you had a shred of it you wouldn't be asking this question, paisono.

 

[Atomic Postman]

Been a while but if it's a mob family presumably he's not the only Salvatore. I imagine they wouldn't be so kind on someone merking their elder.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Been a while but if it's a mob family presumably he's not the only Salvatore. I imagine they wouldn't be so kind on someone merking their elder.

He’s literally on a ventilator. Any smart and cunning members of his organization could realize they could make his death seem like an accident, and take over the whole organization

 

[Atomic Postman]

Yeah but if he's somebody's grandpa, they ain't

 

[Sublime]

He’s literally on a ventilator. Any smart and cunning members of his organization could realize they could make his death seem like an accident, and take over the whole organization

Mafia families generally share some degree of blood ties, at least in the leadership. And they are also very hierarchical. So a low level thug is never going to take power just because, even if the boss dies

 

[naossano]

Salvatore is probably the one who held the «family» together for decades. Many guys of his inner circle joined him when he was stong and able, and learned to respect him. Beside, the guy is a mean son of a bitch. If you try to kill him and fail, you would wish you were never born. Also, if it is so easy to cap the top dog, maybe it is a good idea to not become the top dog...

And there also the concept of loyalty.
We are meant to see them as people who spent many years working together and enjoying a lifestyle they wish to keep going. They don't see their boss and coworkers as npc with 10 lines of dialogs, that they could insta kill with a crit and reload if it fail.

 

[Alphons]

Let's say that none of the Salvatore's kids will show up to claim his place after he dies.

Mason probably was already named as a successor. Why speed things when old man is already halfway in grave?

It wouldn't make sense for anyone else to try for a power-grab. When Salvatore dies by their hand (even if they make it look like an accident) Mason will take over anyway.
So, kill Mason? Risk a fight against him and those loyal to him?

Salvatore family is the smallest one in Reno- their only advantage over the rest are their guns and armour. If there was a split in their organisation, Mordinos or Bishops would certainly take advantage.

Louis probably also prepared for his sudden death- how would you contact Enclave for a fresh shipment of weapons without the specific frequencies? As far we know they're only known to Luis and Mason.