I'm trying to create a follower that has a dynamic leveling system, i.e gains skill level+"perks"+buffs over time, which can be influenced by the player. The perks will be gained as the follower levels with the player and various permanent buffs will be applied through experience in combat. Since I'm new to modding, though, I don't know how exactly I would make the follower "level" like this. I understand that the actor can level dynamically according to the player level, and I'm thinking of using that option (the option in the Actor editing window) in terms of level growth. However, I don't know how to trigger certain events once the follower reaches a specific level or counter (e.g gaining a perk at level 5, bonus armor rating after taking x damage, etc.). For clarity, I plan on the level-associated perks being to be chosen through dialogue, and having the buffs apply after the specified amount of whatever is reached by the follower. Any suggestions on how I should do this?

tl;dr

I need help making a follower gain 1. perks through dialogue after hitting a certain level, and 2. buffs after certain things have been achieved (e.g overall damage/healing/time spent on fire/etc). Suggestions?

Perks can not be dynamically added to actors, except for the player. Therefore any perks which you wish the follower to have, will need to be added in the CK. However this in itself does not prevent the illusion of gaining perks, as all these can be conditioned on the perk entry to be inactive until chosen conditions are met.

For example, if you wanted your follower to benefit from increased bow damage, when the player takes the first Overdraw perk

You would create a perk with the same perk entry as Overdraw00.

On the perk owner conditions tab, replace the condition found there with

HasPerk Perk:OverDraw00 == 1

RunOn Player

or if you wanted a follower to "gain" a perk once the player has completed a quest, the condition on the perk entry would be

GetQuestCompleted QuestName == 1

RunOn Player

Also something to note, you can use just one perk added to the follower and use multiple perk entries (make sure to give each perk entry a priority). However this method can get confusing if you have many entries.