On the Nature of Magic, Powers, and Power Levels from Pre-Comet (Pre-2000) Days
Though unknown or unbelieved by most, true magic and superpowers did indeed exist on Earth of the Living Supers campaign before the Comet Event of 2000. The best way to describe it is that the Comet massively amplified human potential (both in terms of frequency of powers and the intensity of those powers), but that potential was still there, in minuscule amounts, beforehand.
Pre-Comet powers were all extremely minor and non-extravagant in nature. Minor precognitives (someone who could anticipate which specific episode of a given syndicated television show was going to air) or folks with an innate direction sense of time sense (Super-Senses), or someone who's exceptionally steadfast (a rank in Immovable), or who heals quickly but not inhumanly so (a rank in Regeneration, to recover from being disabled 1/5 hours rather than 1/day). Enhanced Traits (Enhanced Feats and Skills) would also be possible (again, at low ranks), to represent someone with a definite knack for a certain skill or activity. Same deal with magic -- Artificer and Ritualist could be found in assorted practitioners over the millennia, though the low PL of pre-Comet folks sets a definite limit on how much they could do (due to limits on skill ranks); the Magic power per se would have been very rare (and even when present would be at a low rank and have a few Flaws and Drawbacks). Similarly, Power Level was simply not as high pre-Comet as it can be now -- pre-Comet, it would be almost unheard of for anyone to be PL 6, and those who were were either hailed as heroes (or gods), or feared as monsters (or gods), or otherwise seen as truly exceptional. (This is not to say that any actual gods or other non-human beings were limited to PL 6 -- though such beings had very limited interaction with humanity -- only that actual humans were so limited.)
A god guideline is "if it would feel appropriate in a Pulp comic (Doc Savage, The Shadow, Tarzan, Zorro, etc.), an episode of Wild, Wild West, or an Indiana Jones or James Bond movie, it should be alright for a pre-Comet power." Even these minor abilities were unknown to most, though, and were lost in the legends and myths and supermarket tabloids.
