Luke can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the biggest inspiration is character traits in Burning Wheel.
In Burning Wheel there are three types (more or less) of traits: character, call-on and die traits. Unlike call-on traits and die traits, character traits don’t have a distinct mechanical effect. They are meant as guideposts for roleplaying your character.
However, in baseline BW, playing a character trait in such a way that the story of a session turns on it is one of the ways you can earn fate points. In the Burning Wheel Anthology, to combat fate bloat, Luke instead proposes that playing a trait in that way makes one eligible for the embodiment award.
That’s probably the most direct link to the check in Torchbearer by way of Mouse Guard. I think it’s also somewhat inspired by the color scenes in Burning Empires. Ultimately, it’s an incentive to spotlight one of your character’s quirks.