How do i create a Collections page like this

like this

The very easiest way is to use the build-in tag collections, that exist (for public tags) at a url like /tag/your-tag-slug. Then you just add link to the collection in your top navbar (or wherever you want to link it from), and you’re done!

More complicated collections and channels can be created by uploading a routes.yaml file. Here’s the documentation: Ghost Themes - Dynamic URLs & Routing

is it possible to pull an author or simply pull all articles w/ this function, or it needs to be tag based

You also have /author/author-name-slug available. For more complicated collections, you’ll need the routes.yaml file, docs linked above.